


Here We Are

by ServantOfMischief



Series: Three Troublemakers [2]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Angst, Child Abandonment, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Humor, Loyalty, Multi, Trust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-05-31 20:34:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15127328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ServantOfMischief/pseuds/ServantOfMischief
Summary: She regrets offering her help. The vile smell tears at her sensitive nose.





	1. Hairdye

“How do I even do this?” Itori holds up the box, staring at it as if it was the most difficult puzzle she has ever come across, and it might as well be. She’s never done this before so it may be a puzzle for her, Uta thinks.

 

“Just read the instructions.” Uta tells her, staring at her reflection in the mirror he’s seated in front of. He’s got a towel wrapped around his neck, and the black roots of his original colour has grown too long already, hence the box of hair dye in Itori’s hands. She suddenly glares at him and he blinks, not given enough of a warning for her next actions.

 

“I can’t read, dumbass!” She shoves him so hard he almost falls off the chair. He should have known that she is unable to read, because if a person thrived on selling girls on the streets they would definitively never teach those girls how to read. She crosses her arms and pouts, and he realizes he may have touched a nerve.

 

“You should just let it grow out instead of dyeing it every time your roots start to show! It’s annoying, your hair goes dry and it smells terrible!” She snaps. It is true that the smell isn’t exactly friendly to their sensitive noises, but he likes being blonde and Itori is the one to offer her help. She doesn’t need to get all huffy and difficult about it when she herself offered to help him.

 

“This is how you do it.” He tells her and proceeds to show her how to blend the product together and then she starts to massage it into his hair. He giggles at how she wrinkles her nose in distaste at the foul smell. Still, she’s quiet as she makes sure every little strand of hair is covered with the substance, her fingers kneading gently and once she deems it good enough she peels off her gloves and throw them in the trash.

 

“Now what?”

 

“I let it stay and soak in for a while, then I rinse it off afterwards when I’m sure it’ll stick.”

 

“You can do that yourself, right?” Itori doesn’t want to be subjected to the terrible smell any more than she has to. She almost regrets offering to help him.

 

“Help me with that too?” He grins far too sweetly and she wrinkles her nose again, but knows that he’s just asking to annoy her and push her buttons but she refuses to raise to the bait just yet. She just nods and leaves him be. She shuffles to her room and reclines on her bed, looking through a magazine she’s gone over at least five times before, but for a lack of anything better she looks at the pictures once more while she waits. She doesn’t know what the words say, but the women in the pictures look glamorous and confident, beautiful and classy. She wants to be like that too, but doing such things, dressing like these women will draw attention to her. She doesn’t want that. She never wants attention, not like this.

 

Uta himself is just doing some light sketching while he waits. This apartment they have gotten suits their needs for now, but he doesn’t feel like being a pick-pocket for the rest of his life. He’s good at drawing and he likes it, so he wonders about trying out painting and see if he can’t become an artist. He could get a lot of money off that if he is found interesting by the right people. At the very least he should attempt it, he thinks, because he might have a very good shot. At least granny had told him he is good, which reminds him that he should probably find time to visit her soon, see how she and the kids are doing. When he knocks on Itori’s bedroom door and tells her to help him rinse out the dye, she throws the magazine away and joins him in the bathroom. He leans over the tub, and she smirks evilly. She turns the knob from lukewarm to ice-cold and she douses him in the cold water. She delights in the high-pitched yelp and the way his body jerks when the water makes contact with his neck.

 

“ _Itori-san_!”

 

“Oh be quiet.” She rolls her eyes and turns the knob again so it becomes warmer and starts rinsing the long strands properly. He needs to cut it again soon. His hair feel soft now that it is wet, but she knows that once it dries it will be crunchy and coarse. It’s such a shame, really.

 

“You might go bald, U-chan.” She tries to scare him, but unfortunately it has the opposite effect.

 

“That’d be badass!”

 

“No, no it really won’t be.” She argues as she turns the knob again and shuts off the shower head. He shakes his head like a dog in retaliation for her dousing him in cold water and she shrieks, holding her hands up as a shield. They do terribly as defence though, and she wipes the water from her face with a glare.

 

“Asshole!” She throws the closest object she can find, her hairbrush, and watches him duck and the brush shattering upon impact with the wall. They stand there, watching the remains rain to the floor in an awkward silence.

 

“You owe me a new hairbrush.” Itori finally says.

 

“How is this _my_ fault?” The blonde teen demands, shivering as the water drips down his neck.

 

“You started it!”

 

“You doused me in ice cold water!” She grabs the shower head again and aims it at him, turns the temperature knob and grins darkly.

 

“You wouldn’t dare…” Uta edges backwards, because he knows she will and she proves him right as he is unable to avoid the second spray of cold water shot his way.

 

“Oh holy _fuck_!” Itori knows he’ll get her back for this, but it is well worth it anyways.

 

“I want a new hairbrush!”

 

“Fine fine, fucking fine! Turn it off!” He shrieks.

 

A couple of days later he shows up with a new hairbrush, and a couple of simple books, claiming he’ll help her learn how to read. She never experienced revenge for the water fight.


	2. Patch Me Up Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the tenth time, damnit

It’s not the first time Itori’s heard Uta growl and snarl and complain about Raven and how he’ll kill him the next time he sees the cannibal. This is the tenth time she’s patching him up after another confrontation between the two ghouls, and also the tenth time she has to listen to him rant on and on how he’ll tear the fucker apart with his bare hands the next time he sees him while she tries to make sure his arm doesn’t fall off. Again.

 

“Sit still!” She hisses like an angry feline and grabs his neck, squeezing. “Your arm is falling off, dumbass!”

 

“Ow, that hurts!” He complains, but she’s pretty sure that his whole body hurts so it doesn’t matter how gently or roughly she treats him anyway. She doesn’t easy up on her grip as she glares down, meeting his narrowed red orbs with her own peach-coloured ones.

 

“Then _sit still_!”

 

“But he-“ Uta tries to argue but the female ghoul will hear none of it as she pulls back, lips curling back in a snarl. It’s rather ugly on her, but he keeps that to himself because it’s also kind of scary, and he’s not used to her being scary. Annoyed and aggressive, yes, scary, not so much.

 

“You can rant all you want later, but until I’ve made sure your arm doesn’t fucking fall off, be quiet.” She says sternly before telling Kado, who had brought Uta home, to fetch some meat before getting the hell out. The tall, bald ghoul hurries to do as told and scurries outside, not wanting to get between the two younger ghouls. Uta is grumbling around mouthfuls of meat as the muscle tissues around the bones finally mend themselves and Itori begins to pull on the roll of bandages, looking him over, wondering how to make his arm stay attached when she’s pulled his jacket off because right now the fabric is the only thing keeping the arm in its socket. She makes sure to roll her eyes visibly when he finishes with the food and looks at her again to convey just how annoyed she is with him and his whining.

 

“What’s gotten into you? You’re not the one injured.” He snaps but reels back when she glares at him viciously.

 

“No, _I’m_ the one trying to keep her friend together in one piece, so you can keep your damn arm and internal organs, which are practically _spilling out of you_! Sit still until I’m done, _then_ you can go on with your tenth speech of how you’re going to kill Raven.” He wisely keeps quiet as she works on peeling his torn and bloody jacket off carefully, then his shirt, before she begins cleaning and dressing his wounds.

 

Itori wonders how badly Raven’s been hurt considering he’s caused this much damage to the peacemaker. Does the cannibal have anyone to take care of him? It’s sad if he doesn’t, but who would want to stay around a cannibal anyway? She sure doesn’t want to, considering he could get the idea to eat her to heal himself.

 

“Okay.” Itori says as she slaps on a band aid across his cheek with a little more force than is strictly necessary. He pouts as he rubs the offended area.

 

“Go ahead and rant.” He doesn’t. He shuts his mouth and looks away. “Oh? You’re done?”

 

“You’ve been testy lately, sunshine. Why?” He doesn’t appreciate her sarcasm, but tries to tread lightly around her.

 

“Hm, it might have something to do with my only friend running off and trying to get himself killed, though I’m not really sure. What do you think?” She snarks as she takes a few steps back and cross her arms and he frowns as he turns his head back towards her.

 

“I’m not trying to get myself killed.” He tries to clarify but she’s in such a bad mood she won’t let him finish.

 

“Could have fooled me. Stop searching Raven out. He’s as strong as you are. Why don’t you try talking to him instead since fighting him clearly isn’t working out?” The blonde snorts and turns away from her again like a petulant child and she’s feeling like she’s nearing the end of her own patience. She wants to smack some sense into him, but that might end up in his actually losing a limb, or a tooth. They are bloody and dangerously loose. Actually, if she hits him hard enough to knock them all out, perhaps he’ll quiet down and learn his lesson.

 

“No?” If possible, his lower lip just out even more and she sighs, heading back over to him and carefully wrapping her arms around his neck and bowing over him. He blinks, because her anger dissipated so quickly and he wonders if it is all just a trap, that she’s setting him up to do or say something stupid.

 

“Fine, go and get roughed up now and again, just don’t die, okay?” He reaches up with his less injured arm and pats her back.

 

“I’m not going to die. I’m strong, you know that.”

 

 _‘And what does that make Raven?’_ She thinks but keeps that to herself.

 

“Of course you are, U-chan. But you’re still a teenager _way_ too cocky for your own good.”

 

“Ouch! You wound me with your cruel, cruel words!” He jerks back to free himself of her hold, though he really should not have. His arm falls out of its socket and the tourniquet supporting it and splatters blood and bits of flesh over the chequered floor. Itori stares, Uta grabs at his shoulder and a long silence follows.

 

“Which hurts the most now? Your pride or your shoulder?”

 

“Just… Please help me reattach it? Please?” She does so, and afterwards pull him to the couch, so he can rest his head in her lap. She hums a song and brushes his hair in disguised comfort. All she wants is for him to stay home and not go out to fight again because he is all she has. She wants Raven to disappear, leave the ward and its inhabitants alone and pester someone else.

 

 _‘Disappear, disappear.’_ She chants inwardly.


	3. Uta, No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, Uta doesn't seem to know what he's asking.

Renji is accompanying Itori on a few errands, where the first one is to drop food off at an orphanage run by an elderly woman. The first time Renji had followed her on that type of errand he had been so surprised, because he had never expected the fighter Uta he had become acquainted with to do something so… well, it feels weird. It just doesn’t add up to what Renji knew of the peacemaker. The clever, vicious and streetwise fighter just didn’t seem like the charitable type to care for orphaned children.

 

Renji’s starting to realize here are a lot of things he doesn’t know about Uta and Itori yet. There are many layers to their beings, apparently.

 

The second errand takes them all the way over to the twenty-first ward. He just mainly keeps watch while she talks with some shady ghoul. He doesn’t listen much to what they’re conversing about, but he keeps an eye out for any suspicious movement. He doesn’t want to go back to the fourth ward and tell the peacemaker that he let Itori get injured or killed. Or have her pride hurt for that matter because that seem to be just as important.

 

The third errand is just her looking for a birthday present for Nana, a little girl she and Uta had sent to that orphanage when Itori saved her from a cannibal. Renji decides that it may not be a good idea to go with her when the day comes to give the teenage her birthday present, considering he used to cannibalize. He doesn’t want to scare the girl Itori is so fond of. On their way back to the fourth ward, they hear a lot of whispers of rumours that an animal has escaped from the zoo. They soon realize, as the news pop up on the screens in the subway, that it isn’t just people who’ve exaggerated on a story as it passed around.

 

An actual panther has escaped and is loose in the city.

 

“Heh, could have been fun coming across the animal.” Itori jokes and Renji shoots her a look, silently telling her that she’s being foolish.

 

“I’m kidding!” She laughs as they jump onto the subway train. “It’s not like it’ll manage to get over to the fourth ward all the way from the sixth ward anyway.” She shrugs. The train is annoyingly packed, as always, but Itori inches closer to Renji in a vain attempt at getting away from the people pressed up against her. It’s not like she is successful considering how packed the cart is, but Renji is a strong pillar of support and that is greatly reassuring. It’s one of those days where everything isn’t terrible, but it’s not exactly great either. Renji seem to notice her discomfort and he grabs her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. She smiles at the gesture and finds that she doesn’t regret letting him in on her shitty past. He hasn’t treated her like she’s fine china, but he has shown support when she feels uncomfortable. He may be seriously clumsy with words, but his gestures are spot on.

 

“Neh, Ren-chan, what do you think about getting a pet?” She asks in an effort at distracting herself. He raises an eyebrow at her as the train slows down and then stops.

 

“Not the panther.” She says as they exit the train and move towards the stairs, anxious to get out of the crowd. “I was thinking more along the lines of a dog, or bird or a cat.”

 

“I wouldn’t mind.” He says quietly, and she grins smugly.

 

“I thought so. I’ve seen you feed the crows on the roof.” He blushes and looks away but doesn’t deny her accusation. She giggles at that, bumping her shoulder against his arm to get him to look her way again. She doesn’t tease him anymore though, deciding to be nice since he had accompanied her on her errands. They move through the shady alleys, hears people yell and complain, the occasional sound of something hitting a wall or a person. Itori is used to it, she grew up in the fourth ward and while Renji masks his annoyance pretty well, he’s not much of a fan of the humans around him complaining and causing a ruckus. He’s not much of a fan of humans in general, really.

 

“U-chan!” Itori shoves the door open cheerfully and calls out. “We’re back-“ She stops abruptly and Renji wonders why, though once he’s inside he can see why and he blinks, not quite sure he’s hallucinating or not.

 

“I made a new friend!” Uta is nearly bouncing in excitement from his seat on the couch, the only thing keeping him grounded being a wild animal wrapped around him.

 

“Can I keep him?” The request is absolutely ridiculous, but Uta is serious about it.

 

“What did you say about the chances of the animal coming here?” Renji mutters to Itori who just gape at both the blonde and the animal. She snaps her mouth shut and shakes her head. Sometimes Uta acts too much like a child who doesn’t understand the consequences of what he’s asking or doing. Sometimes he’s like an adult with the answer to almost everything, and sometimes he is like this. She opens her mouth again to tell him that; no, they can’t keep the animal because the fucking _police_ is looking for it, but Renji waltzes past her and approaches the beast carefully before she can say anything. She watches speechlessly as the animal tilts its head at him, then apparently deems him worthy enough to come closer and actually pet it.

 

“Guys, no.” She says, holding up her hands. She can’t believe she’s the reasonable one. That’s Renji’s job.

 

“You talked about getting a cat.” Renji looks up and for some reason he looks utterly adorable with that pleading expression she has never seen on his face before. Formerly vicious cannibals have _absolutely no business_ with looking so cute.

 

“Yeah, a _housecat._ ” She stresses. “Not a full-grown black panther on the run from one of our local zoo’s, which, by the way, both the police _and_ the zoo-keepers are out searching for.” Her argument just makes both males pout at her and it makes her falter.

 

“No, don’t… don’t do that, that’s unfair!” She whines, trying to stay strong as she stomps her foot onto the chequered floor, but feeling her resolve crumble quickly the longer they look at her like that. Uta’s lower lip is even trembling, which she knows is just a trick, but it still gets to her. She’s weak for that move. She usually caves when he does that, and he knows this, is trying to exploit this fact, but not this time.

 

“U-chan, Ren-chan, it’s too dangerous and I can’t believe _I’m_ the one being the reasonable one here. If it wasn’t for that, I’d let you keep it.” Renji throws in the towel, realizing the truth of her words but Uta is a different matter. He crosses his arms and drapes himself over the animal, and Itori can’t believe that the panther actually lets him and looks perfectly content in such a position too. Isn’t supposed to be a bit more suspicious of everyone outside the zoo, even if it can probably sense they aren’t human?

 

“You’re being unfair!” He whines and the animal looks at him, tilts its head and then look towards Itori. It almost looks amused, challenging her and she wonders just how clever this beast is. She doesn’t like it. It may have charmed the other two, but they are _her_ friends and she is not giving them up to an overgrown cat. She rubs her temples in annoyance. She is jealous of a cat.

 

“I really am not.” She states firmly and walks past him. “We’re going to bring it home tonight and you’re going to help us.”

 

“I don’t wanna!” Renji snorts at Uta’s childishness and Itori turns on her heels and marches back to him, tilting his head up with her finger and leans forward, whispering something to him. He slowly leans back and turns to Renji as he uncrosses his arms.

 

“Renji-kun, we’re delivering the panther to the zoo tonight, please help us out.” The silver-haired man wonders what Itori told the blonde considering how he had paled at whatever she said but agrees to help the blonde and redhead return the panther. Who knows, it might be fun.


	4. Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Run Renji, run

Touka doesn’t know why these ghouls began harassing her, but she’s in a shitty mood from before because of the increased work-load at the cafe and the exams at her school coming up and they are not helping brighten it. Well, she isn’t making the situation any better herself by breaking the nose of one of the ghouls either, but she can’t help her short temper. She feels more than just a little bit of satisfaction as she hears and feels the bone break from the force of her fist.

 

“You bitch!” The ghoul with the bloody nose snarls through the red waterfall. He looks absolutely furious _and_ humiliated and she narrows her eyes. She is furious too.

 

“You started it!” She snarls right back, eyes bleeding red and black as she takes a defensive stance, ready to break more bones and beat the ever-loving shit out of them. She’s already late for a pick-up at Uta’s shop, and these bastards are stalling her even more. Her uncle told her to be quick because the mask maker is supposed to close shop earlier today for some reason or another, the silver-haired man didn’t specify why, but she did promise to get it done before he closed shop, because the owner of the mask is in a pickle, being dangerously close to being caught by the CCG, and needs the mask quickly. The poor thing can’t move freely before they get their mask and Touka doesn’t want to be reason they are caught and exterminated.

 

“You don’t come on our turf and cause trouble!”

 

“I’m not causing trouble, _you_ came after me!” No, Touka has not been causing trouble, but she feels ready to do so now. She also knows that she’s already passed into Uta’s territory, so whatever these guys are saying is false. She cracks her knuckles, feels her kagune shift around her shoulder-blade, but then the group ganging up on her pale and take a step back. She blinks in surprise, then smells leather and paint, just before a hand lands on her head. Normally such an action would have alerted her and made her jump away as she lashes out, but she knows this scent, and the hand ruffling her hair with every minute movement the owner makes is gentle.

 

“My oh my, I have trespassers.”

 

“Uta-san.” She turns to smile up at the mask-maker who’s standing beside her now, head tilted to the side and smiling eerily at the group before them. She shouldn’t be surprised that she didn’t hear him coming, because he’s like that, silent as a ghost, but she is surprised nonetheless. Apparently so are the ghouls who just a moment ago were ganging up on her.

 

“U-Uta-san, we just- We-“

 

“Hmm? Yes? You what?” The mask maker’s voice is pleasant enough, but there’s this hint of malicious light in his eyes which Touka’s never seen before. She doesn’t feel worried about her own safety though, because the dark-haired ghoul isn’t directing those eyes at her, she is family, and his hand is brushing over her hair in a comforting and calming manner. It’s rather nice, and she knows she doesn’t have to worry about the group in front of her anymore.

 

“She trespassed. We just wanted to tell her off.” He regards them with a raised eyebrow, gaze landing on the bloody nose reshaping itself on one of them. He feels his lips curl upwards a bit more, easily imagining what happened before he got there, but schools his expression quickly. So much like her uncle, he thinks fondly.

 

“Hm? Is that so? But any ghoul in need of a mask is welcome in my territory as long as they don’t hunt, and besides…” Uta assumes a faux innocent expression on his face as his smile widens again.

 

“She’s Raven’s niece, they’re very close you know. What do you think he would do to you if he’s told you harassed his sweet little girl?” She holds back a snort, because she is far from a sweet little girl, but she bites her lip and keeps quiet because the way the ghouls suddenly look like they’re about to piss their pants is very amusing. They open and close their mouths like fish on land before they turn and scurry away and she wonders just how great terrors Uta and Renji used to be when they were younger. Itori’s told her and Ayato some of it after they found out their uncle was _the_ Raven, but there has to be more.

 

“Not even going to apologize?” Uta calls after them with a smug grin but receives no reply and Touka can’t help the laughter escaping her now. The way Uta handled the group of ghouls is much different than she would have, which again just proves that he indeed used to be a peacemaker, even though his ways had been rather unorthodox. He is way more diplomatic than she is. He looks down at the teenager he is sure he didn’t need to save, because she’s a real firecracker and strong, and watches her quizzically as she tries to recover from her fit.

 

“Thanks, and I’m sorry I’m late.” She bows her head in both thanks and apology and he drop his hand.

 

“Mm, no, no need to worry about that. Here.” He hands her a box she didn’t even notice him carrying. She accepts it and feels its weight. “I figured you had walked into trouble on the way and I need to go.”

 

“Oh, okay.” Touka isn’t used to Uta dismissing her, as he always seems to enjoy talking with her and Ayato, giving them a few tidbits of their uncle’s past and teasing them. Uta enjoys company, Touka can see this quite clearly, can understand it too. And she knows he loves his shop, lover making masks for ghouls, finds comfort in helping his kind raise their chance of survival and this makes her wonder what can be so important that he feels compelled to close the shop.

 

“What’s so important that you have to close shop early?”

 

“I’m going to stay with Itori-san this weekend, help her out with her bar.” This confuses Touka even more. Why close his own shop to help Itori out with hers when she has full control of her establishment?

 

“Why?” This time he is the one who appears confused and he tilts his head with a frown.

 

“For the same reason Renji-kun did last week.” It doesn’t seem to ring any bells to the teenager and Uta comes to the realization that Renji may not have told his niece and nephew the big news, despite it being some time since they themselves found out. He scratches the shaven part of his head, frowning slightly. Renji should be the one to tell them considering there’s a fifty-fifty chance he’s the big man, but Uta’s already said this much, so to avoid Touka being worried about what is going on, because she is suddenly wearing this adorable little frown on her face, he just tells her.

 

“Itori-san is pregnant.” The younger ghoul’s eyes widen to the size of dinnerplates and Uta wonders for a second if the purple orbs will pop out. Then they narrow and clear annoyance paints her pretty features.

 

“And Renji-nii didn’t tell us? How long have you known?”

 

“Hmm, around two months, I think.”

 

“Oh he is so dead.” Touka mutters before she surprises the mask maker with a hug. He blinks but pats her head and lets his lips curl upwards again.

 

“Congratulations, though! Can I come visit sometime? Or would it be stressful for her?”

 

“I’m sure she’d like that.” Uta reassures her before the girl bows and skips down the streets with the box in hand. Uta is pretty sure he just set his mate up for a world of hurt, but also figures that since the silver-haired ghoul has neglected to tell his charges he brought it upon himself. He isn’t going to be the one to call and tell him that he might have put him in a difficult position though. No, all Uta is going to do, is go to the fourteenth ward and help Itori out this weekend. He is not at all surprised when Renji calls him later that night, though he hands the phone over to Itori, who’s sitting with Shiori by the counter. Even from the other side of the room while serving a customer, the dark-haired ghoul can hear Renji’s heated voice from the phone, and he laughs inwardly as he hears Itori tell the other man to calm down.

 

“It is your own fault, Ren-chan. You know how temperamental those two are, after all, they’re quite like you.” Uta hears more arguing on the other end and Shiori hides a laugh behind her hand as Itori’s eyes droop and her grin turns positively dirty.

 

“Oh, the tiny firecrackers really roughed you up, huh? Aw, poor little Ren-chan, don’t worry, we’ll make it up to you, we’ll _apologize properly_.” She sings, and she laughs again at the response from the other side. Renji has lowered his voice enough that Uta can’t hear him, but the way Itori draws her lips over her teeth to hold in her laughter tells him he’s probably muttered an embarrassed response. Itori glances in Uta’s direction and her eyes twinkle mischievously.

 

“You remember the uniform I showed you, right? The one I wanted my employees to wear, the one you said looked good? U-chan’s wearing it…” She trails off and looks at the phone, suddenly frowning.

 

“He hung up on me. How rude!” Shiori has fallen over the counter, shaking with laughter she can’t contain anymore and Uta himself feels his chest rumble with a quiet chuckle at Itori’s deeply affronted scowl.


	5. Generous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori thinks Uta gives more than he'll ever receive

Itori sometimes thinks that Uta gives too much and asks for too little. She can use him being the peacekeeper of the fourth ward as an example. He’s the strongest so he leads and helps the ghouls and doesn’t ask for much in return. And as for her, he’s saved her and given her a new life and enabled her to control it herself and he keeps on reassuring her and comforts her when she has bad days. He’s never once asked for anything back for all of that. It just doesn’t sit right with her.

 

He’s out right now so she can’t talk to him yet, because she wants to do this face to face, not over a cell-phone, but she’s got a whole speech on the subject ready for when he returns. But first he needs to actually return, and she wonders when that will be because it is three in the morning and she’s staring at the roof in his room, or rather, she’s glaring holes in it. She’s annoyed because she’s got something really important to discuss with him and he’s out late. She’s going to give him a piece of her mind before she whips out the speech when he returns. She knows she’s going to go from being mildly annoyed to really pissed off when he returns because she gets incredibly cranky when she’s tired and sleepy. At the very least she acknowledges this fact, and she crosses her arms, mouth set in a straight line as she waits for her friend. Tired Itori equals cranky bitch-mode Itori.

 

She must have drifted off, the exact opposite of what she planned on doing, because she wakes when Uta settles in the bed, pulling the covers over himself.

 

“I need to talk to you.” She mumbles as she turns over to face him.

 

“At 4:30 in the morning?” He responds wittily, and she groggily slaps his chest before she’s gone again. When she wakes the next morning, or later as it is, she shows no mercy to the peacemaker. It’s barely past eleven in the morning, and she tears the covers off of him and pulls the blinds up. The sunlight assaults him and he hides beneath the pillows. She tears them out of his grasp too and he turns onto his stomach, burying his face into the mattress.

 

“Get up.”

 

“Don’t wannaaa.”

 

“I need to ask you something.”

 

“It can wait.” He groans, hand flapping about on the bed, trying to find anything to cover himself and shut out the light with. She throws her t-shirt at him and his eye crack open beneath it, before he sits up abruptly and turns, only to see Itori fully clothed. He pouts at her, sitting up and throwing the shirt over his shoulder.

 

“Now that I have your attention.”

 

“That was mean.” He mumbles as she plops down beside him. She ignores the pout.

 

“I don’t know what to do for you.” He blinks at her, not quite following what she’s going on about and the confusion shows clearly on his face.

 

“You give and give and give, U-chan, but you never ask for anything in return. And the sex isn’t me paying you back for anything because it isn’t a valid payment option.” He cracks a small smile at that. It did not take her long to understand that, despite having been forced since a young age to sell her body, and he’s happy for her, but she’s speaking nonsense right now.

 

“You saved me from the former peacekeeper, showed me how it’s like to live a normal life, helped teach me how to read and to not hide, but I can’t figure out what to do to pay you back for all that.” He shakes his head before grinning and ruffles her hair affectionately. She is surprised by the gesture and peers up at him through the curtain of her messy hair.

 

“But you have paid me back.” He tells her, as if that should explain everything, but she looks so utterly confused he has to add more to his explanation.

 

“You became my friend and you stayed.” She pushes her hair out of her face and frowns.

 

“But something like that is nothing-“

 

“It’s everything.” He cuts her off, vaulting himself out of the bed.

 

“It’s everything.” He repeats quietly as he leaves the room. She’s left behind, wondering why Uta is so fixated on her being his friend, and doing all he has done to make sure she stays. She understands loneliness, but this is more than that. Even so, she has no intention of leaving anytime soon anyway so if that’s all he wants from her, if that is his idea of her giving something back to him in thanks, then that’s what she’s going to continue doing.

 

Uta wasn’t lying when they met. He is easy to please.


	6. Wardrobe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She feels colorless and bland amongst them

“Okay, we’re here.” Itori frowns. The store looks expensive and the clothes hanging on the racks and fixed to the walls aren’t what she usually wears or is comfortable with wearing for that matter. She tugs on the hem of her grey, faded and oversized hoodie, biting the inside of her cheek. She is the one who asked Uta to help her expand her wardrobe, to help her find something nice and pretty so it is rude to suddenly just cancel after he’s brought her here. She does ask him this though;

 

“Do you really think anything in there will fit me?” She doesn’t think anything in there will actually fit her, that she’ll look good in anything. It seems so colourful, calling for attention and she’s nothing like either of those things. She is not colourful or bright and she abhors calling attention to herself. Besides, from the look of the people going in and out of the shop, she assumes they must be very well off. She and Uta isn’t exactly a part of the upper-class of society and it is glaringly obvious to anyone who looks their way.

 

“Sure!” Uta says without hesitation and she purse her lips, not as confident as he seems to be, but she follows him as he walks into the shop, his swagger much more confident than her slow shuffling. He dolled her up before they left the headquarters, with pulling her hair up in a messy but classy bun and painting light make-up on her. She asked him how he could do make-up so well, and he just shrugged and said it is like painting and he’s good at that. But despite having freshened her up to look like a doll, her clothing is disrupting the whole picture. She feels shabby in her faded grey hoodie and loose jeans and the stares they receive from both the staff and the other customers makes her want to curl up inside her hoodie and hide away. She feels horribly out of place as she lags behind Uta who’s crossed his arms behind his head as he looks around.

 

She is yet again struck by how colourful the articles of clothing are, even more so now that there are no windows to weakly reflect her and dull the colour. She is so out of place, isn’t she?

 

“Oh, this would look good on you.” He holds up a white summer dress and she stares at it. It is nice, she can’t say it isn’t cute and simple, but if she wears that her shoulders and arms will be bare.

 

“White doesn’t really suit me anymore.” He stares at her blankly, understanding the implication but disagreeing with her nonetheless. Instead of pressing the issue though, he just pulls out the same dress in a yellow.

 

“Sunshine colours for my sunshine.” She giggles at his ridiculous words but takes the dress because she may like wearing it, she’ll never know if she doesn’t at least try it on. He finds pants in different colours, dark green, black, white and purple, then various blouses and t-shirts in orange and blue.

 

“Am I to be outfitted in all the colours of a rainbow?” She tilts her head, raising a brow.

 

“Just go and try them on.” He rolls his eyes and pushes her towards the changing rooms. She doesn’t fight him on it, but she is very aware of every raised eyebrow directed in her direction as she quickly pulls the curtains shut. She shakes her head and breathes in deep a couple of times before she begins undressing. Uta pokes his head in once she’s gotten the yellow dress on and throws her two thumbs up as he grins boyishly at her. She likes that grin. He looks so sweet with it.

 

“That one’s cute. We’ll take it.” He motions for her to hand over the dress before he disappears again, and by the time she’s managed to put on another outfit he’s back with more, and more, and more-

 

“Okay, that’s enough!” She stops him and he blinks, startled. “We can’t overturn my entire wardrobe in one day.” She tells him, knowing that some of these clothes will be nearly impossible for her to wear immediately, because they call attention to her and she’s not entirely comfortable with that thought just yet, despite there being no one left to hunt her down except for CCG officers, though they’ve never been the ones she’s afraid of. Like the dresses which only reach her knees, the shorts and shoulder-revealing tank-tops… They show too much skin, it’ll give people the wrong idea about her.

 

“I need to get used to this first.” He nods in understanding and slips out. She redresses in her own clothes and hands him the articles of clothing she’s decided she wants to bring home before putting the rest away where they found it. They move towards the cash register and the human’s eyes nearly pops out of their sockets when Uta produces the money needed to pay for everything out of his wallet. She clearly never expected a pair of teenagers to have the money to pay for clothes from her fancy shop. She’s polite enough to not comment on it and hands him back his change after packing the clothes in bags. Itori grabs Uta’s hand as they leave, seeking some comfort because all the staring which had happened, which she definitively did not imagine, has unnerved her.

 

“So, where to next?” He asks, and she shrugs. She’s not quite sure where to go next. Perhaps shoes, since hers are in a terrible shape, really, considering how the bottoms are nearly falling off. He smiles way too sweetly then, and she slows her pace.

 

“Underwear and sleepwear then?” She chokes on air at both his suggestion and the incredibly mischievous grin on his face.

 

“Oh hell no!” She stops abruptly and stomps her feet, eyes blazing. She knows where this will lead and she- but then she blinks as Uta’s eyes widen as he falters in his steps and she realize that she’s misunderstanding everything completely. She thought about the old days, where every little word and gesture hid a darker agenda, but Uta isn’t planning anything malicious, his suggestion is completely void of any nasty implications. She lowers her head and mumbles.

 

“That’s private.” She adds it as an attempt at salvaging their outing and Uta accepts it.

 

“That’s okay. I’ll just wait outside the shop. That’s alright with you, right?” She nods at his suggestion and he hands over his wallet before relocating to a nearby bench, settling the bags he is carrying between his feet. She stands there for a few moments before turning and entering the shop. She’s quick about it, pulling with her what she thinks looks comfortable before paying and scurrying out.

 

“You done?” She nods before grabbing onto his hands and pulling him with her. “Do you need anything, U-chan? Let me pick out something for you.” He hums to himself, glancing upwards before pulling on his hair.

 

“Something to keep my hair back, maybe.” She finds him several hairbows and bands, and all in pastel pink, bright red and pale blue. He raises an eyebrow at her but indulge her. He soon come to realize he likes the cute accessories and it becomes a part of his image.

 

He grows more than just a little pissed when the goddamn cannibal who’s trespassing on his territory makes fun of them too, along with his glasses. He never mentions to Itori how the silver-haired ghoul’s mocking of the hairbands she got him is one of the main reasons he’s fighting the teenager.


	7. Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One In Which Itori Experiments With Blood Wine

The result of her experiment is… amusing to say the least. Uta’s laying face-first onto the living-room table and Renji is talking non-stop about everything and nothing. Right now, he’s talking about bugs and how they frighten and disgust him. Itori is, quite frankly, speechless and it shows on her face with how her eyes are wide and how she gapes at them. She looks down at the bottle in her hands and cautiously takes a whiff, then wrinkles her nose and holds it far away from her.

 

“Oh yeah, that’s potent.” She groans. That explains how Uta had just fallen over after a simple gulp. They should have told her it smelled suspiciously, she wouldn’t have let them drink if they voiced concerns about it. None of them drink very often, only when Itori wants to test her concoctions, so there’s not much tolerance to go around to begin with, but the blonde’s never just… fallen over and lost consciousness before. She’s kind of worried, but before she checks up on him she crosses out the timeframe on her clipboard.

 

“A year old is no good.” She mutters, wondering how different blood must be than grapes for this kind of reaction, before dropping the items and crouching next to the peacemaker.

 

“Hey, U-chan, are you okay?” He mumbles something unintelligible but doesn’t move. She takes that as a sign that he’s still alive at the very least. She carefully rights him up and makes him lean against the back of the couch. His eyes are glazed over, his mouth hangs open and he sits straight for about two seconds before he slides sideways, flopping over Renji, who also falls over and nearly off the couch, but he continues to blabber without pause as if it never happened.

 

“Sunshine, why are you so mean?” The blonde whines and she shakes her head with quiet laughter. He has found his voice again, and that is good at the very least, but now he’s just complaining. She wonders how he’ll feel once he’s slept the alcohol off.

 

“You agreed to help me.” She reminds him though she keeps to herself that she did not expect this to happen.

 

“How do you feel?”

 

“Dizzy… and you got two heads. Why you got two heads? Do we ghouls even do that? Are you screwing with me using your kagune? Can you even do that?” He slurs and she tilts her head. That apparently makes him even more dizzy and he clenches his eyes shut with a groan.

 

“And t’en t’e fucker just comes up and tells me I’m a psycho-cannibal freak! I don’t eat g’ouls fer fun, ‘e was really mean!” Renji says and Itori feels a head-ache grow from how they babble over each other. She is also pretty sure that it was Uta who called Renji a psycho-cannibal freak before they actually got to know each other but keeps quiet about it. She does not need a drunken fight in their living room. As amusing as this spectacle is though, she believes it is in the best interest for them all to end their night there. She dumps Renji into her former bedroom and then proceeds to carry Uta to his own. She ponders about crashing on the couch as she tucks the peacemaker beneath the covers. Uta’s sleep acrobatics are bad enough when he's sober, she’s not quite sure she wants to experience what they’re like when he is this shit-faced. Before she can leave though, his hand fumble after hers, his fingers just gracing her wrist.

 

“Don’t gooo.” He whines, but she laughs and turns and tucks his arm beneath the covers again.

 

“U-chan-“

 

“Don’t leave me alone.” He cuts her off and he looks so vulnerable, almost scared, and she stops, frowning. She’s never seen him look scared before.

 

“I’m just going to the couch. I’m not leaving you.” She tries to assure him but he'll have none of it. He doesn't believe her.

 

“Mama said the same thing, and then she never came back.” The confession is unexpected, both that he said it and the contents of it. She never asked Uta for his past like he never asked for hers. She just thought that he was like the rest of the orphaned ghoul kids in every ward. Someone who lost their parents to either the CCG or more violent, cannibalistic ghouls. She is also sure he isn't quite aware of what he is telling her, but she kneels down by the bed and reaches out to pet his head.

 

“I’m just going to turn off the lights and lock the doors.” She tells him softly, watching as his eyes droop a bit with each caress. “I’ll be back in a minute.” The moment she stands up his eyes open wide again, but he doesn’t move as she retreats and leaves the room. When she returns, he looks anxious and his breaths come short and loud, like a scared and wounded animal, but when she moves beneath the covers the tenseness melts away.

 

“See?” She murmurs as he snuggles into her, burrowing his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent deeply.

 

“I told you I’d return.” She feels his arms wrap around her in a crushing grip, so tight she finds it a bit hard to breathe but she doesn’t tell him to let go or ease up. She doesn’t think he’ll react to that too well. She hugs him back just as tightly.

 

“Don’t wanna be alone anymore.” He mutters against her neck and she kiss the top of his head.

 

“You’ll never be alone again. No one will ever abandon you again.” He succumbs to sleep immediately, but Itori is kept awake by the buzzing thoughts in her head for a while longer. It all becomes rather clear to her why Uta’s always done everything in his power to make her want to stay with him, and she wonders how often he worries that she’ll just up and leave. She won’t leave, ever. She has no reason to.

 

When she wakes up the next morning she finds her legs dangling off the bed, tangled in Uta’s, with him sleeping on the floor, his face pressed into a pillow he managed to pull with him, his chest against the cold wooden floor and his legs straight up, his calves brushing by her knees.

 

“How the hell is your back bending like that?” She exclaims as she pulls her legs free, and only then does Uta slide properly onto the floor with a groan.

 

“My head hurts.” That is no surprise, considering the potent beverage the two had inhaled the night before and she sighs.

 

“U-chan, what you said last night…”

 

“What did I say last night?” He mutters, exhaling, and she stops. He doesn’t remember, and she won’t remind him.

 

“About wearing my dresses.” She throws out randomly, for a lack of anything better. He’ll just laugh at her, tell her that she can do better when trying to trick him, but to her surprise he looks rather guilty and a little bit embarrassed as he peeks up.

 

“I was curious if I could pass myself off as a girl.” She blinks, mouth collecting factionary flies as she just stares at him.

 

“I… what?” And that is when Uta realizes that she had actually just said something random and that he may be in a bit of trouble.


	8. Ink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One In Which Uta Throws The First Punch

“Your ink is fading.” Itori comments and Uta looks up, a hand automatically reaching for his eye.

 

“Is it?” He hasn’t noticed himself yet when he looks in the mirror, but while that may be so, he trusts Itori not to toy with him when it comes to his eye.

 

“Barely noticeable yet, but you should get it done before it actually _is_ noticeable.” She tells him and he agrees. Of course, on the day where he is going to get the ink redone he and Renji are ambushed by Doves and by some stroke of _incredibly_ bad luck, one of the investigators manages to land a hit on Uta’s mask, and his right eye.

 

“Fuck!” He kills the man, the last one in the group, before clutching his face. _“Son of a bitch.”_ He curses beneath his breath, peeling off his damaged mask. It is uncomfortable with the way pieces of it is dug into his wound.

 

“You okay?” Renji asks and Uta nods. His face is already stitching itself together, but his mask is ruined, which sucks because his eye is regenerating too, and it had been completely destroyed, he can feel the gooey stuff inside the organ trail down his cheek. The ink is completely gone now. His eyes will be mismatched again and he’s not sure he wants Renji to know he’s only a half-ghoul. There are only two people who knows the truth and one of them is Itori, and he would like to keep it that way. Neither humans nor ghouls actually deal with half-ghouls well. Only Itori and granny ever has, and ever will.

 

“Yeah, my mask is ruined though.” Uta frowns. He’d best get to that tattoo artist now. He’s sure that with a little bit of persuasion the artist won’t mind him coming a few hours early. His eye is already healed so he pulls off his hair-band and lets his hair cover the damaged part of his face, hiding the desperate act by acting like he simply ruffles his hair in annoyance.

 

“Motherfucker got lucky, that’s all.” Renji’s not used to Uta using such foul language. Even when they fought against each other the blonde had kept to snide remarks and light sarcasm, he rarely cursed.

 

“I got an appointment. See you later, Renji-kun.” Uta turns to leave but Renji is not done.

 

“You just got struck across the face. Let me see.” He reaches out to stop his friend, to get a proper look at the damage.

 

“It’s healed already.” Uta dodges the hand which reached out for him and Renji blinks. Isn’t the peacemaker acting a bit out of character?

 

“I doubt that. At least clean off the blood.” Renji produces a handkerchief for the blonde to take.

 

“Where the hell did you hide that?”

 

“In my pocket.” The silver-haired ghoul snaps and advances on Uta who backs away.

 

“No need, I’m meeting with another ghoul-“

 

“You’re just going to wander around with blood on your face in broad daylight? Are you stupid?” Renji cuts him off, far from amused and he doesn’t understand why Uta is being so difficult about something so normal when he himself doesn’t understand that concept of personal space most of the time. The blonde is acting suspicious.

 

“I’ll keep to the roof-tops.” Uta skips around him, about to scale the walls, but Renji is quick on the uptake and grabs his wrist and yanks him back, then moves his hair away to get to the blood, only to pause. What meets him is two mismatched eyes and it makes no sense to him because when a ghoul activates their kakugan, reveals their true nature, both eyes turn at the same time, there is no such thing as one eye keeping the human camouflage and the other revealing their ghoul nature. Renji has never come across something, or someone, like this so he doesn’t know what to say or do, so he just stares dumbfounded. The blonde doesn’t take kindly to that. He shoves the taller ghoul away and scrambles up the walls before Renji can stop him. The silver-haired ghoul stands there for a few moments, staring at the edge which Uta had disappeared over before shaking his head. He moves back towards headquarters, thinking that Itori must know what is going on, she always knows _something_ about _anyone,_ and because at some point Uta must return home. If Itori won’t tell him, he can probably make Uta comfortable enough to tell him later.

 

Probably. Maybe... Right?

 

When he walks through the door, Itori is grinning at him and holding a pot of coffee. He nods at the silent offer before he flops onto the couch, waiting for her to fill a cup for him.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” He asks when she hands him the cup.

 

“Sure. Fire away.” She says as she sits down beside him.

 

“We got ambushed by Doves earlier, and Uta took a hit to the face.” She raises a brow, not so much concerned about Uta’s well-being considering how calm Renji is. The damage can’t be that great if he’s not even the slightest bit concerned. He is frowning though, unsure of something.

 

“His right eye was gouged out.” The redhead pauses her movements, looking up at Renji, waiting for him to say more before she reveals anything unecessary but he just stares back. He is unsure of how to ask, because while he is curious about the mismatched eyes, it may also be a sensitive topic. There are so many secrets hidden behind smiles and laughter with these two.

 

“Okay.” Itori says calmly, setting down her cup on the table. “Did you see it?”

 

“His eyes are mismatched.” Renji confirms.

 

“Yeah.” Itori ponders how best to go about this. She believes Uta should tell Renji himself that he is a hybrid, but she’s not sure he actually will address the situation they are in now, even though there’s no need to hide it anymore.

 

“U-chan’s a miracle, so to speak.” She explains. “One of his parents was human. He’s half of both, but he doesn’t want people to know. The two of us are the only ones who do, so keep it to yourself.” She tells the silver-haired ghoul sternly.

 

“Half-human? How is that possible? Humans and ghouls don’t mix!”

 

“I don’t know how it happened and I am _not_ going to pry. He’s self-conscious about his eye, so don’t mention it. _Ever._ ”

 

And Renji doesn’t. When Uta returns, both sclera black again, he doesn’t ask, but he is awkward around him for a while, not sure how to treat him. He’s never come across a half-ghoul before, never even believed they actually existed, and he wonders if the human part of Uta makes him more vulnerable than normal ghouls. It angers Uta that the silver-haired ghoul acts like this, and it also frightens him, because his second friend is suddenly so distant, like he’s going to go somewhere far away. He doesn’t tell Itori how he feels about it, choosing to bottle it up, but she’s not so ignorant that she can’t notice the tension steadily building up, she just doesn’t know what to say or do to help them.

 

At some point, things will blow up, she knows this. But she is the one who told Renji not to mention Uta’s heritage, though she never told him to distance himself from the peacemaker. His actions make no sense to her and he won’t give her a proper answer when she asks. Uta, however, grows tired of it, doesn’t particularly enjoy the fear gnawing at the back of his mind, and confronts Renji on his behaviour when they’re alone. He finds the taller ghoul rummaging through the abdomen of a human corpse and moves to stand behind him.

 

“What the fuck is your problem?” The silver-haired ghoul turns his head to regard the blonde with a raised eyebrow, and the shorter ghouls elaborates.

 

“You’re barely looking at me.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He denies, but it is the wrong thing to say. It is what causes the blonde’s patience to snap. Uta sees red and lunges at him, throws the first punch and feels no small amount of pleasure at the sound of cracking bones. It escalates quickly, and they tear at each other like they did before they buried the hatchet. Skin is torn, bruises bloom, Renji’s jaw is dislocated, Uta’s nose is broken, counting as their least serious injuries and when they collapse, unable to move, they realize just how badly they have wrecked each other this time. Uta can’t feel his legs and one glance at Renji tells him that the other ghoul may not actually be able to walk either.

 

“This is _your_ fault!” Uta snaps as he turns onto his back to get a better look. His legs are broken, and muscles are torn. A bone is sticking out of his shin, and it is not a pretty sight. He can’t find his left foot either, no matter how much he looks around. Shit, he’ll have to buy new boots, doesn’t he?

 

“Fine, I admit I was wrong about you. I’d nearly forgotten how these fights turned out.” Renji admits and Uta opens his mouth to tell him that; Damn right he was wrong, only to pause.

 

“Wrong about what?” He asks. What Renji says makes little sense.

 

“I thought the human part of you made you more vulnerable, so I thought I had to be gentler with you.” Renji says quietly. “I was trying to find a way to do just that.” There’s a long silence stretching before the blonde turns his head, eyes narrowed and a nasty scowl adorning his face.

 

“You’re so stupid.” Renji wrinkles his nose, not found of the insult thrown in his face, though he can’t exactly argue right now, considering how they’ve both ended up.

 

“First of all, ignoring me is not the way to go, obviously.” Renji snorts, but agrees with him nonetheless, because their situation right now is proof of it. They’re sitting ducks in their condition.

 

“Second, does it look like I’m a fucking fragile?”

 

“You’re missing a foot.” Renji retorts.

 

“Your kneecap is on the other side of the room, asshat.” A chuckle leaves Renji, which quickly grows into booming laughter. Uta watches, transfixed, because the taller ghoul has never laughed like that before, but then a grin stretches across his own lips and he beings laughing too. This is absolutely ridiculous.

 

“We’re not healing fast enough.” Renji says when he manages to calm down some, chuckles still leaving him. It hurts to laugh, but he can’t quite stop.

 

“Yeah, we won’t be able to get back on our own.” Uta searches his pockets and finds his phone. The screen is cracked but it’s functional and he calls Itori.

 

“Hey sunshine, you think you can do me a favour?” He gives her their location and when she enters the building she follows the smell of blood.

 

“U-chan?” She calls, only to stop in the doorway to the room they lay in, taking in the sight of their broken bodies and the blood splatters all over the walls and floor.

 

 _‘Oh dear, oh dear.’_ She thinks.

 

“Why do I feel like you actually deserve to rot in here until you’re fully healed on your own?” She asks as she saunters over to them, arms crossed, and slim red brow raised.

 

“If I tell you that we made up and everything is okay now, would you reconsider?” Uta tries and the girl sighs as she kneels in front of them, accessing the damage.

 

“You really did a number on each other, didn’t you?” She mumbles before she starts to think of ways to bring them home without hurting them more. She can bring them back one at a time, but the corpse outside will soon attract other ghouls and a lot of them wants Renji dead and a few have started to doubt that Uta is fit to be the leader of the ward. They’ll have to deal with that matter soon, she thinks. Suddenly there’s commotion downstairs.

 

“This is where the report of ghoul activity came from!” They hear and Itori dashes over to the door, peeking through the crack, swearing. There’s too many to deal with alone with two injured ghouls on the floor. She jogs back over the two, wrapping her arms around them the best she can.

 

“It’s going to hurt.” She warns.

 

“We’ll deal.” Uta grits out as she moves towards the window and kicks it, shattering it.

 

“Up there!” They hear and Uta just manages to see a human investigator slam open the door as Itori leaps out.


	9. Dolled Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One In Which Itori Has Some Fun

“Who are you dressing me up as?” Uta asks as he holds up the bag of clothes Itori gave him. He hasn’t paid much attention lately to what shows she watches on the television nor what kind of manga Renji reads, but he gathers the outfit must come from one of the two.

 

“No one in particular. I just want to check something out.” Itori says as she pushes him towards the bathroom, telling him to hurry up and get dressed. She’s been curious ever since he accidentally admitted to having tried her clothes on as a teen. He doesn’t argue and closes the door behind him. He doesn’t know what she’s planning, but it might be fun nonetheless. He’s curious, as he looks through the bags and pulls out the articles of clothing, before pausing as he holds up one particular item. Seriously? He pokes his head out, clearing his throat to get Itori’s attention with a bra dangling from his finger.

 

“Really?” He gives her a blank stare and she waves her hand. It is a rather plain white one, nothing that would draw much attention even if shown, but the fact that she has actually bought one for him to use is rather ridiculous in its own right.

 

“It has to be authentic!” She adamantly claims, and he raises a brow. What is she going to stuff in them, he wonders.

 

“What for?” He asks, and she pushes him back in, slamming the door, yelling that he’ll understand once they leave. She giggles madly to herself as she pulls out her make-up bag and a wig. This is going to be great, she thinks. When he exits she grins widely. It is almost a bit unfair that he actually looks damn good in the long, pastel pink dress and white coat.

 

“Where did you even find heels in my size?” He asks.

 

“How are you walking in them so effortlessly?” She shoots back, annoyed with the fact that he is walking in them flawlessly, and he shrugs. He has no answer but wonders why females always complain about wearing heels because they are not that hard to manoeuvre in nor are they uncomfortable to wear. He sits down in front of her and lets her apply make-up to his face. This is kind of fun, he thinks, as he closes his eyes and lets her have her way with him. He feels the brushes press against his face, smells the cosmetics she’s applying. She pulls out the wig, a long brown one and hides his dark hair beneath it, tugging on it to make sure it stays on.

 

“You have to remove your piercings.” She tells him and he does so, although reluctantly. He’ll have to redo them later, because the moment he takes them out he feels the skin heal. It’s annoying having to redo them every time he takes them out, but he’ll go along with it for now. It’s not like it is extremely painful anyways.

 

“I forgot something.” She says and pouts. “I forgot about your eyes.”

 

“I was wondering when you’d realize.” He smirks and she rolls her eyes.

 

“Oh whatever. Let me spray you in this so he won’t recognize your scent.” She says and holds up a body-spray. There is only one person Itori can be talking about if it means she has to cover up his scent and he tilts his head at her, looking up from the tops of his eyes.

 

“Are we visiting Renji-kun?” Uta asks and Itori nods.

 

“I want to see if he can recognize you in this outfit.” She tells him. Uta hums, intrigued with the idea. She shakes the body spray and he inches back. While he is intrigued, he’d really rather not be sprayed with that, even if the whole thing will be a bust if Renji recognizes his scent, which he will.

 

“That shit stinks.” He wrinkles his nose. “And you just want to screw with him. You douse me with that and there’s no way he’ll recognize me.”

 

“Don’t you want to mess with him?” She tilts her head and he covers his nose in answer, shutting his eyes tight. She grins at that and proceeds to spray him so much she can’t catch a whiff of his scent herself, so that it’s hard to catch it even when she presses her nose to his skin. She knows that they can still screw with Renji, because the sun is shining brightly and as long as they find a table by the windows Uta will have an excuse to wear the shades, she explains as she grabs her own coat. They head over to Anteiku and find themselves a table by the window. Renji offers to wait on them, he always does when one of them or both come along, and when they order even Itori finds herself being surprised at how well Uta can warp his voice and Renji leaves them none the wiser. The redhead can barely contain herself as she waits for the taller ghoul to be out of earshot.

 

“Holy shit, he didn’t recognize you!” Itori whispers gleefully. Uta hums, pleased as well, but also slightly bit annoyed that the silver-haired man hadn’t taken notice of the shape of his face or nose or mouth. All of him have been thoroughly explored by the silver-haired ghoul after all. They sit there until Renji’s shift is over and follow him outside. He lets them walk with him for a while before he throws the disguised Uta a curious glance, then looks at Itori.

 

“She looks good, doesn’t she, Ren-chan?” Renji doesn’t quite know why Itori asks him that, but nods. He won’t lie about it, the female Itori brought with her to Anteiku is pretty, but she is wearing far too much perfume. It makes his nose itch. Where did the redhead find this woman anyway and what is her intention with her? Is she a friend the redhead haven’t found the time to tell him and Uta about or is she just an unfortunate passer by Itori decided to turn into her lunch?

 

“You hear that? You’re pretty like this.” Uta smiles demurely, keeping up the act for a bit longer until he just can’t ignore the throbbing in his legs anymore. He’s underestimated women a tiny little bit. He stops along the side-walk and lifts one of his feet daintily, rubbing at his ankles. He didn’t think they were so bad in the beginning, but now his feet ache. Now he understands the complaints, and he wonders what bastard thought this accursed footwear was a good idea. He hopes the fool burns in all seven hells.

 

“I take it back.” He says in his own voice and Renji’s head snaps around so quickly one can hear the bones protest. It is both funny and worrying.

 

“How do you walk in these? My feet are killing me.” The silver-haired ghoul turns a deep red when Uta pulls up his shades to get a better look at his feet. How in the hell had he not noticed that it is Uta? And why is Uta dressed in a pink dress anyway? And how is he pulling it off? How is he looking so good in it? And why the hell does he like it?

 

“Oh my god!”

 

“U-chan, a proper lady endures!” Itori tuts him before turning to Renji. “So, U-chan is pretty as a girl, right?” Renji chokes on his spit and turns away, covering his face. He feels weak and crouches down, trying to get over the shock.

 

“Ren-chan?”

 

“Just… just give me a minute.” It is rather obvious to the other two that this little prank has affected him terribly and they laugh to themselves as he tries to collect himself. When he finally looks up, Uta just can’t resist.

 

“She gave me proper lingerie too.”

 

“Oh my god, shut up!” He cries out, embarrassed by the thoughts that suddenly swarm his mind. Itori haven’t actually given Uta any lingerie, except for the rather plain bra, but the way Renji’s face burn a fierce red and how his voice pitched so unnaturally high is endlessly amusing so, she doesn’t deny the statement. Instead she turns away and covers her mouth in a vain attempt at quieting her own laughter. The two mischievous ghouls from the fourth ward will definitively bring this up again, in a more private setting.


	10. Tense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One In Which Uta Is New As Peacekeeper

Uta has been way too tense lately. Grouchy too. His back aches, shoulders too. Being the peacekeeper is somewhat stressful sometimes, despite he himself being a rather laidback person. Well, he’s new at the whole thing and there are still people who doesn’t answer to him and harass Itori. She’s mostly standing up for herself, but there are times he stalks the alleys at night, bringing a friendly reminder to the ghouls who just won’t take the hint. It’s not like she isn’t aware of it, so she decides to do something nice for him too.

 

She trips him over and shoves him face first onto the couch. A hushed silence falls over the hideout as Uta slowly pulls himself up, a murderous expression on his face. Uta’s new henchmen scurry out of the hideout, not sure what will happen to the girl after Itori manhandles their leader like that, but no one are willing to stay and find out either, so when she shoves him down into the couch again, effectively muffling his curses, they are already out the door.

 

“What the hell?” The blonde manages to sputter as he fights to keep himself somewhat upright.

 

“Lie still.” She orders him as she wrestles his jacket off. He’s offering fair resistance, not at all wanting to listen without her explaining herself first.

 

“Itori-san, what-“

 

“I’m going to give you a massage.” He does stop struggling when he hears that, though he turns his head enough to raise a brow at her.

 

“Do you even know how?” He’s not convinced.

 

“I learned many things when I was younger.” She says simply and he wisely keeps his questions to himself. He quickly learns that she does indeed know what she is doing as she works from his shoulders and down his lower back. He is boneless in the matter of moments, enjoying how she carefully but firmly kneads the knots away. He really needed this.

 

“Now that I have you at my mercy,” Itori begins, and he turns a droopy red eye on her, “I know about your night time escapades.”

 

“Which ones?” He smirks and she rolls her eyes.

 

“The ones involving the morons who badmouth me behind my back.” She retorts and he hums happily.

 

“Oh, yeah. What about them?”

 

“This is my thank you.”

 

“Ah? You’re not persuading me to stop? Let you deal with them yourself?”

 

“Hm, no, I don’t really care what people say about me.” She shrugs.

 

 _‘Liar._ ’ He thinks.

 

“And I have better things to do than run around after idiots who run their mouths.” She adds as an after-thought.

 

“Is this you telling me I also got better things to spend my time on?” He sighs and she hums this time.

 

“Maybe.” She digs the heel of her hand into the area right above his tailbone and he groans. She runs her hands up and down his back, making sure she got all of the knots, before shuffling off the coach.

 

“No more knots.” She declares proudly before she skips away. He raises himself up in a sitting position and rolls his shoulders, feeling how easy the movement now is. He appreciates what she did and considers her words. He does have other things he need to mind, more urgent matters. He should probably focus on them instead. Itori is a big girl, she can take care of herself.

 

He should start remembering that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lately the one-shots have been pretty simple and short, but don't worry! Good stuff coming next!


	11. Careful

She should have been more careful, Itori thinks as she lunges forward and rips her daughter out of Shiori’s arms. A ghoul having a human friend is dangerous enough in its own right, but to let that same human friend be close to a ghoul child is even more dangerous. She should have been more careful, but if she had never let Shiori meet the baby it would have been suspicious. Itori trusted her ability to keep hidden and thinks herself a fool for it now.

 

Now it is over.

 

As much as Itori likes the human Shiori, her daughter and mates’ lives are much more important to her. Even so, the thought of killing the human makes her feel nauseous.

 

 _‘She’s just food.’_ She thinks, tries to force herself to believe, but she cannot, because the human is important too. If it wasn’t for Shiori, Itori may never have had this baby in her arms. As she’s thinking all this, eyes wide and terrified as she cradles little Shiori close to her chest, turns just enough to shield the baby from the human’s sight, Shiori herself is calm, calmer than she thought she would ever be in the presence of a ghoul.

 

Her heartbeat isn’t picking up, her breathing is steady, and her thoughts are orderly. The ghoul is visibly panicking but the human is as calm as ever.

 

 _‘Shouldn’t it be the other way around?’_ Shiori thinks, but then it dawns on her. Itori isn’t attacking, but Shiori can see her mind racing a mile a minute. Itori hasn’t killed her yet because she doesn’t want to, and it warms the human’s heart as well as gives her hope. She turns slowly and carefully towards the redhead.

 

“Itori-san.” The ghoul jerks back to reality and she looks like a cornered animal. “Please sit.” A resigned smile graces Shiori’s face as she pats the space beside her.

 

“I’m not going anywhere.” Hesitantly the ghoul does as asked, still cradling a confused baby Shiori close to her. The little girl blinks up at her mother, then her namesake, then back at her mother. She is too young to understand her mother’s terror.

 

“This explains a lot.” The human sighs after a while.

 

“You suspected us of being ghouls?” Itori asks quietly in disbelief. She cannot believe it, because they have been so careful when out amongst the humans, when interacting with humans, they have adapted so well, survived for so long. Where did they go wrong? What did they do differently around Shiori that never tipped off anyone else?

 

“Not at all.” Shiori shakes her head. “But it explains why you almost never ate, and that red wine you served only to a special few of your customers, which you said it wouldn’t be to my taste and now I can guess why.” She laughs weakly. Itori doesn’t quite understand how she can be so calm. Shiori isn’t stupid, she must know that she is in great danger.

 

“All those times you hugged me, rubbed your cheeks against mine, did that protect me from other ghouls?” Itori nods slowly, wondering why her friend isn’t running for the door. Not that she would ever reach it, but it is a curious thing nonetheless. Instead of running and screaming for help, this human asks questions.

 

“Yes. By marking you with my smell, no one would dare attack you.”

 

“I see. Thank you.”

 

“Why are you so calm?” Itori bursts out. “You knowing the truth… it changes everything.”

 

“Does it?” Shiori asks, tilting her head questioningly. “How has everything changed?” She refuses to believe that everything has changed. Only one thing has changed.

 

“The only thing which is different is that I now know you’re a family of ghouls. None of you have changed as persons, you’re still Itori-san, right? You’re no different now than how you’ve always been.”

 

“Humans and ghouls don’t mix.” Itori says, refusing to meet Shiori’s eyes as she brushes a hand through her daughter’s short dark strands, though she knows it’s only a half-truth. Uta exists, he was born into this world, proof that some humans and ghouls can live together. Is Shiori one of those humans, those able to live alongside ghouls? Can she be one of them, is Itori allowed to believe that? To hope for such a thing?

 

“Don’t we? According to history we’ve lived alongside each other for as long as both species have existed, right?” Itori glances at the human as she looks up to the roof, musing.

 

“You’re not _that_ different from us humans.” She continues. “And you’ve never hurt me. If you can trust me to keep it a secret, will you let me continue to be your friend?”

 

“And if I can’t?” Itori asks.

 

“Then I guess I am dead?” Itori bites her lower lip hard enough to break skin, not sure what to say or do. It shouldn’t be so difficult, the answer to this is easy no matter how she looks at it. She shouldn’t be having this conversation, she should just end it quickly and be done with it, and when Uta and Renji returns, just ask them to hold her tight and tell her she did the right thing. One thing she knows for sure, even if she doesn’t kill Shiori and lets her go, even if Shiori doesn’t report them, Uta and Renji will find out one way or another.

 

“I can’t hide this from U-chan or Ren-chan. They’ll find out.” The message is clear. If Itori doesn’t end her life, either of the other two will. Shiori understands this, knows that if she is to have any chance of survival, then Itori must be able to trust her, and also have her partners trust her.

 

“Then I’ll sit with you through that conversation.” This human is so courageous Itori can barely stand it.

 

“I-I might be able to convince Ren-chan.” The redhead cannot believe what she herself is saying, but she can’t stop either. Her mouth is running on autopilot, spilling words of wishful thinking.

 

“But U-chan…” She trails off. “U-chan survived for so long because he left no loose ends.” Itori is angry at herself for being so torn about this. A hand on her own startles her out of her thoughts.

 

“If he kills me, then he kills me. If it can’t be stopped, then it’s only a matter of time anyway. If I am to die, I want to face it, not have death chase me down like a frightened rabbit.” Rabbits. Little Shiori loves rabbits, especially the rabbit doll Touka bought her. She perks up at the word, clapping her hands. But the human is right. It is only a matter of time now.

 

“I’ve only got one wish, Itori-san.” And Itori will hear it, it is the least she can do. Shiori smiles as she squeezes her hand.

 

“If I do end up dying, though I really want to live and pray that they’ll trust me to keep quiet, don’t let a single piece of me go to waste.”

 

“You’re such a weird human, you know that?” Itori’s lip wobbles and her daughter pats at her face, noticing how her mother’s eyes waters. It is the child’s attempts at comforting her mother and it is a sweet gesture, but it doesn’t make the situation any less disasterous.

 

“Call them, Itori-san.” The human says, still so calm. Itori wishes she can handle this better, but her hand shake as she pulls out her phone and dials a number. It is time to get it over with, there is no use in postponing it.

 

“Ren-chan.” Itori nearly whispers into the phone. “Call U-chan… And come as quickly as you can.” Her voice cracks and she hangs up before the silver-haired ghoul can ask her what is wrong, what caused her to sound so upset. All they can do now is wait for the two men to arrive. Itori dreads the moment, isn’t sure what to say to calm them, to make sure they let Shiori explain herself. She fears they’ll leap upon her the moment she opens her mouth once it’s clear what kind of future it is they’re facing. It is what she _should_ have done.

 

“Aren’t you scared?” Itori asks her friend as she notices that while they’re waiting in silence, the human’s pulse still hasn’t picked up.

 

“Terrified.” Shiori admits, because she doesn’t want to die. She wants to live.

 

“But you’re so calm.”

 

“I don’t know how or why I appear so.” The wait isn’t long, really, but it is unbearable for the both of them still. Renji is first through the door, frowning. He doesn’t understand yet, neither does Uta as he closes the door behind him. They are so calm now, if not a bit worried. How quickly will their expressions change when she speaks up?

 

“What’s so important, sunshine?” Itori can’t seem to find her voice, just the strength to hold her little girl closer, though this only makes the baby complain. The human Shiori sees the struggle and stands up, moving a bit away from the couch. She is still so strangely calm, even though she knows she can die seconds after speaking.

 

“Shiori-chan’s eyes turned.” The human says and Itori’s breath hitches, the males’ eyes widen as they stiffen.

 

“I know.” It happens too fast for Shiori to process it, but an inked hand wraps around her throat, tightening just enough to cut off her air-supply, just as Itori screams.

 

“U-chan, no!” She expected to be attacked, but she didn’t expect to actually live long enough to understand how she will die. Renji is holding Uta back, eyes narrowed and teeth grit with effort, Itori is up on her feet, looking absolutely terrified, but Uta’s visage is on a whole another level. The usually so calm man, whose face is always so unreadable, like a mask which shows its secrets only to those worthy, is twisted into a freakish snarl, eyes narrowed and blazing, teeth bared, and lips curled back. His expression is twisted and ugly, words she has never associated with the man before.

 

“Give me _one_ good reason!” The dark-haired man hiss between gritted teeth. Renji’s grip on him tightens but it doesn’t make the fingers around Shiori’s throat slack at all. She’s already starting to feel dizzy from the lack of air. Itori is up on her feet, baby Shiori’s lips wobble as she doesn’t quite understand what is going on but doesn’t like her parents yelling and snarling.

 

“Shiori-san was the one who wanted you to know!” It seems like the situation grows too much for the little ghoul at Itori’s panicked voice, and a wail rips itself out of her throat. She immediately catches the ghouls’ attention and they all turn towards the girl, the expression on Uta’s face melting away as he turns, and his grip slackens enough for the human to be able to suck in a deep breath of air. The sound makes him look at her again, but now he simply frowns, far from pleased with the situation still. But his grip doesn’t tighten again.  Something doesn’t add up. The human is way too calm for someone who’s facing certain death.

 

Uta’s never come across a human who’s so relaxed in front of a ghoul, not even overconfident Doves.

 

“Uta-san.” The human wheezes out, fingers cautiously resting on his wrist as Itori rocks the child. “If you’re going to kill me, let Itori-san turn Shiori-chan away. Please.” The request surprises him, and he drops her. She falls as her knees buckle beneath her weight, her being held in a chokehold having drained all strength from her body.

 

“What are you saying?” He doesn’t quite understand this human. “How are you so calm?” She still doesn’t quite know herself, even as she had thought about it after Itori asked her earlier.

 

“I’m not calm. I’m terrified of dying.” Shiori pants, rubbing her bruised throat.

 

“Liar.” Uta crouches down, eyes narrowing as he tilts his head, suddenly more curious than murderous. “Your heart beats calmly.” Shiori presses a hand to her chest, frowning.

 

“Is it?” And she realizes he is right. She hasn’t expected it, considering that while she may feel calm at mind she expected her body to give a proper reaction given the circumstances. She looks up at him, eyes wide with wonder. “How _good_ is your hearing?” She’s honestly amazed. No one understands, Shiori herself the least of all. She is scared of dying, the very thought makes her hair stand on end, but she is still so calm. She doesn’t understand, it makes no sense, what is wrong with her body?

 

“She’s not afraid of us.” Renji suddenly speaks up. “She’s afraid of dying, but she’s not afraid of us.” And when he phrases it like that, it makes sense. Shiori hadn’t frozen in fear when the baby’s eyes turned red and black. She had been surprised, but the one who had been afraid was Itori.

 

“U-chan, Ren-chan, please.” Itori begs quietly, and the men nod, turning towards the human.


	12. Abandoned

“Just wait here, Uta. I’ll be right back.” His mother ushers him inside a tiny shack, looking over her shoulder as she follows him. It’s a bit chilly, even for him, so she pulls her scarf off and wraps it around his neck when she sees him shiver. It smells like her, he likes it.

 

“Okay.” He grins up at her, mismatched eyes sparkling, and she smiles, full of love and adoration. She hugs him, feels his grip on her just as tight as hers is on him, before he lets go and she smooths his dark hair away from his face, kissing his forehead. She moves towards the door when he speaks again.

 

“I love you, mama!” He always tells her so when she leaves to go for work. Papa used to do it before he disappeared, because he loved her, and Uta loves mama too, so he always says so too when she goes out because papa isn’t here to tell her anymore. Her steps falter for a moment before she throws him a wobbly smile over her shoulders. Then she is gone. He hears hurried footsteps leave before he looks around. The shack is small and barren and cold, but he’ll find ways to amuse himself, he’s sure. It is odd though, because mama usually leaves him with papa, but with papa gone… He shakes his head to rid himself of the thought.

 

When night falls and it grows even more chilly, he curls in on himself in a corner, pulling her scarf off, unfurls it and wraps it around his little body. It’s much colder now when mama isn’t there to hold him, but she’ll come back soon. She’s never been gone for so long, but she’ll be back. Because mama loves Uta. Morning comes and he rubs the sleep from his eyes. His body is stiff and cold, but if he just plays a bit the warmth will return.

 

“Mama?” No answer. She isn’t back yet, but she will be. Mama’s been sad after papa disappeared and she won’t tell him why papa went away with those men, but Uta will be there for her. He leaves the shack once to pee, but he hurries back inside again because she had told him to wait inside. Papa told him to listen to mama and make things as easy as he can for her, before the scary men came for him.

 

He’s alone on the third day as well, and now he’s slightly scared. Why hasn’t mama returned yet? He wants to go looking for her, but she told him to stay in the shack, so he has to stay inside. When so much time has passed that he’s lost count of the days he’s spent inside, of how many nights he slept alone in the cold without her to hold him and ward off scary dreams, and his stomach is starting to growl, he dares to leave it to search for her. He tries to stay strong, but as he walks down the dark streets alone, with all kinds of weird people looking down at him, sneering at him and saying things that make him uncomfortable, he turns on his heel, crying as he heads back towards the tiny building.

 

He runs into a lady and he falls down, scraping his skin. The woman frowns as she crouches down and helps him up on his feet again.

 

“I’m sorry. Are you alright, little one?” She asks as she rights his clothing and brushes his hair back and he nods as he looks up. She doesn’t smell like mama, but maybe she’s seen her? The woman’s eyes widen.

 

“Who are you?” She reaches out, fingertips brushing by the corner of the eye mama and papa always tells him to keep hidden and he jerks back.

 

 _“No one must ever see your eye, Uta.”_ His papa had told him. _“If anyone sees your eye, run!”_ So he runs. He pushes past the nice-looking woman and back where he came from, crying all the way, sight blurred by the tears which won’t stop. He stumbles, hears her call for him to come back, but he can’t. He has to run, he has to go back. He has to go to the place where mama can find him and protect him. He runs into the shack but stops short at the sight of two tall men. Two tall humans wearing the same kind of coat the men who fought his papa wore, and the smell coming from their suitcases sends a chill down his spine as he freeze in place. They turn towards him as they hear the door slam open.

 

“Who are you?” One of them demands, but the other human points at him.

 

“It’s eye! Why is it only one eye?” Run, Uta thinks to himself, but his legs are shaking so bad he can barely move. Run, run, run!

 

“Who cares! Kill it!” The words shake him out of his trance and he turns but he doesn’t get far before an excruciating pain burns at his back. He screams as he falls and curl up on himself as he sees the men advance on him. He is so scared, and no one is there to help him. Papa is gone, mama haven’t returned either and now he’s hurting. Someone make the pain go away, he wants to beg, but all that escapes him is warbled screams. The humans are coming closer and he can’t move, so he does the only thing he can. He wails, the loud sound carrying down the streets. It’s a call, but there is no one left to hear it, understand what it means.

 

“Kill them while they’re young and can’t fight back. That’s the easiest way to get rid of the monsters.” One of them says and Uta cries harder, even louder, his throat sore.

 

“Mama! Mama where are you?” The men scoff, and he clenches his eyes shut as one of them raises their weapon.

 

\--x-- 

 

Uta lunges forward, heaving for breath before he scrambles out of the bed and to the bathroom, nearly falling over as his shoulder collides with the doorframe.

 

“U-chan?” Itori mumbles, turning over and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, awakened by the commotion. She wonders what is going on and pushes herself up on her elbows.

 

“U-chan?” She calls louder, though all that meets her ears is the sound of her lover vomiting. Such a lovely sound to awaken to.

 

“U-chan, have you tried eating human food again?” She groans as she slips off the bed and follows him. She thinks that he needs to stop trying to eat human food just because some dishes are aesthetically appealing to him. He’s hunched over the toilet bowl, blonde hair plastered to his sweaty skin as he heaves. Nothing is coming up and she frowns.

 

“U-chan?” She rubs his back as he continues to dry-heave, struggling to catch his breath, coughing as he breathes in too quickly. It takes a while until he’s just slumped over the toilet, and Itori’s brows furrows even deeper at his pale complexion, the cold sweat running down his back and the actual fear in his red orbs. Something is wrong, she’s never seen him like this before and it, honest to any god that may exist, scares her.

 

“Did you have a bad dream?” It sounds foolish to ask, but what else can it be?

 

“Not a dream.” He rasps. “A memory.” He fumbles to reach her hand and grabs it in a near painful tight grip and she feels her own body nearly shake at the terrible tremors that pass through him. She is reminded of that night where Uta and Renji drank her oldest blood wine and fell over each other.

 

“Don’t go.” He begs. “Don’t leave me like everyone else.” He’s referring to Renji and people she’s never met, people he knew before he came across her and she pats the back of his hand with her free one. She doesn’t believe Renji left them, or that he’s dead, even now two weeks having gone by after the Arima-fiasco without them receiving any confirmation on whether or not he is okay. Even so, Renji’s disappearance is most likely linked to Uta being like this right now. He’s been jumpy enough while awake, but now it seems that even his sleep is disturbed.

 

“I won’t leave.” She promises before she pulls him up on his feet and lead him back to the bed. She pulls the covers over them and lets him hug her as tightly as he wants, not even complaining when she feels her lungs constrict a bit. He needs reassurances, and it worries her, because she isn’t good at giving comfort.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She offers the option she had chosen years ago, even though her decision had been made by the fragile mind of a person who had been relieved she was finally free of her torment. Still, it had helped a bit, it helped admitting she was afraid, and now she is no longer afraid.

 

“Not really.” He mutters as she combs her fingers through his hair. It’s soothing and nice, he enjoys these simple caresses of hers more than most things and he sighs. The tension is leaving his body, but the bad aftertaste the dream left him won’t go away. He’s tempted to bite the inside of his own cheek hard enough to tear flesh, just to wash it away with his own blood, but decides against it.

 

“I just… dreamt of when my mother left, that’s all.” He tells her quietly, breath shaky. He’s still trembling and she doesn’t like it one bit. Uta has always been an unshakable person to her, but now he cowers. It’s so wrong and she hates that the trauma of abandonment has left him like this.

 

“I understand, U-chan. I will never leave, I swear.” She promises again, curling over him protectively and while it takes him long into the morning before he actually manages to tell her, she listens with rapt attention as he explains how his mother left him, and how he had been saved in the nick of time.

 

\--x-- 

 

The boy waits for the pain, for the attack to hit him and tear open more wounds on him, but all he hears is grunts and thuds. He whimpers, eyes scrunching tighter as he hears footsteps but there is no more additional pain, so he chances a slight peek, eyes cracking open a bit. All he sees is the woman he ran into before, eyes glowing red as she pulls off her coat and kneels down beside him. She is a ghoul too, and he is almost relieved. Is he safe now?

 

“They did quite the number on you, poor thing.” She murmurs as she carefully wraps him in said article of clothing and lifts him up. It hurts to be moved, he whimpers, but she’s careful and warm and he can’t help but lean into her. She carries him like mama does when she sends him off to bed. He feels safe now.

 

“Have to wait…” He mumbles as she carries him away from the shack, away from the men on the ground. Now that the danger has passed, his body and mind are slowing down and the exhaustion from his time alone, the running and crying, the pain from the wound, all of it is tapping him for strength and he slumps. There is no strength to resist her taking him away.

 

“Wait for who?”

 

“Mama told me to wait… until she came… back.” Is all he manages to utter before he loses consciousness.

 

\--x-- 

 

When Uta finishes his tale, he’s a shaking mess, is even outright sobbing because fifteen years later and the thought, the _memory_ of being abandoned by the one person he should have been able to rely on, the one person who should have loved him more than anything else in this world still hurts so much. He knows Itori won’t leave, trusts her when she promises she’ll always be with him, but even though he knows this it’s so hard to properly believe, because Renji also said he’d always be there and now he is gone, left to find two brats in the twentieth ward, people who are more important to the taller ghoul than Uta is. It hurts. It hurts so goddamned much. Itori whispers to him how much she loves him, how much he means to her and he returns the sentiments. He closes his eyes as he feels her wipe at the tear tracks on his eyes, tilts his head up to give her better access, cracks a wobbly smile as she kisses his forehead and scratches lightly at the mark on his shoulder.

 

Itori doesn’t sleep at all, even as he dozes off and his hold on her slackens. She keeps watch over him, does her best to soothe away any frown that forms on his face as he sleeps, tries to assure that he gets the proper rest because he sorely needs it. She reminds herself to visit Fukui when Uta wakes up, and when she’s made sure he’s in at least a slightly better mood than when he woke up the first time, that he’s eating and functioning without breaking down she grabs her jacket and heads for the little orphanage. To say the older ghoul is surprised when Itori barges in before she is about to wake the children and just embraces her without as much as a polite greeting is an understatement.

 

“Thank you.” Itori mutters and Fukui returns the embrace, blinking.

 

“For what?”

 

“For saving U-chan.” It clicks and Fukui smiles, patting the redhead’s back as the younger ghoul holds on tight, showing no intention of letting go any time soon.

 

 


	13. Babybump

It’s not all that visible yet, she can still wear her own clothes without it being all that uncomfortable, but the moment a bump did start to show on her stomach, Uta had become so fascinated with it. She wakes up one morning to him stroking his hand over her stomach, eyes wide as it comes across a slight swell. She is not sure what surprise her the most, that he is patting her still almost flat stomach or that he is awake before her. She doesn’t say anything at first, just watches him as he strokes up and down, clearly delighted with how his hand curves over the swell.

 

“What are you doing?” He glances up at her and grins.

 

“You’re filling out.” She narrows her eyes at his innocent statement and he blinks.

 

“Are you telling me I’m getting fat?” He quickly backtracks, and it is hilarious to watch. He is more careful with what he says around her, but his fascination with the bump does not diminish. He grows more interested and wide-eyed with wonder the bigger it grows. While Renji is probably just as awed by the entire situation, at least he masks it a bit better.

 

“Do you feel anything?” Uta asks one day as they’re reclining on the couch.

 

“All I can feel is you poking me.” She rolls her eyes as he looks up from his ministrations. She doesn’t understand why it’s so fascinating to him, it’s just a baby bump, there is nothing to feel yet. She would have understood if the baby is big enough to cause movement they can feel, but she’s not.

 

“It’s incredible.” He mutters as he lays his head in her lap and presses his cheek to the bump.

 

“What is?”

 

“How you’re growing another life in you.” He says, looking up at her again. She reaches over and runs her fingers through his hair, smiling a bit.

 

“You’re so easily fascinated, U-chan.” She murmurs, but she admits to herself that it is incredible when he puts it like that. Even more so that she’s actually going through with it. She’s still scared of everything that can go wrong because in their world there is no shortage of danger. She’s good at sharing these concerns instead of letting them eat at her and cause her stress, and her lovers are great at consoling her and reassuring her that they won’t let anything happen to her or the baby or themselves for that matter when she grows scared of them going out where she can't see them. The more she starts to show, the more protective they become of her, and the moment she starts having trouble getting out of bed on her own, they do the hunting for her. They don’t allow her to argue on the matter. She has mixed feelings on the matter. While it is annoying that they won’t allow her to do some things herself, it is also rather nice to be taken care off.

 

It happens when she’s out walking with Renji. She’s grown so much she has to wear the maternity clothes Shiori helped her find and while she doesn’t really like wearing them outside because she thinks she looks ridiculous in them, she has no other choice if she is to be comfortable. And she is not comfortable being stuck in the apartments all day and since Uta is with a client at the moment, Renji is the one who walks with her. They walk down the streets, hand in hand, Itori chattering about everything and nothing and Renji just listens with a slight upwards curl of his lips, the smile only the ones who are close to him can see. He glances at her when she suddenly stops talking and her peach coloured orbs grow wide as she places a hand over her stomach. He is instantly worried that something is wrong, but waits with panicking before Itori can verify his concerns.

 

“Oooh.”

 

“Oh? Oh what?” Renji demands. To hell with waiting, he’s already panicking. Itori grabs his hand and places it over her swelled stomach and he furrows his brows deeper, not quite sure what she wants him to feel, until he does. Itori giggles as his eyes widen with wonder, so much like Uta when he pets her stomach.

 

“She’s kicking, Ren-chan!” And the way his eyes suddenly shimmer a bit makes her almost cry too.

 

“I feel it.” He mutters, voice shaky. They stand there for a long time, unaware how some onlookers look at them weirdly as he has his hand pressed against her belly. Itori is the first to shake herself out of her awe and pull on Renji’s arm.

 

“We should go back and let U-chan feel it.” When they return to the shop and tells the mask maker he promptly drops his tools and pulls Itori over to him.

 

“Really?” He presses his cheek against her stomach and a giggle slips out as he pulls back sharply moments later.

 

“Oh wow, she kicks _really_ hard. Does it hurt?” He asks as he presses his face against her belly again, grinning wildly at each jab he feels. Itori admits that it’s a little uncomfortable, but she can live with it because it is also very exciting and reassuring. After a while though, standing ramrod straight with him clinging to her becomes tiring.

 

“You know, this position is not comfortable at all.” She complains after a while and lets herself be whisked up the stairs and deposited on the couch where Renji sits beside her, placing a hand over her belly again and Uta promptly lays his head in her lap, staring wide-eyed at the swollen stomach.

 

“Weren’t you working on a commission?” Itori questions with a mischievous grin.

 

“It can wait. This is more exciting.” She doesn’t doubt that this is more interesting at the moment, but whether or not the mask he is working on can wait she is not so sure, and she voices her concerns.

 

“Nothing is more important than you.” Renji speaks up. And that must be the sweetest thing Renji’s ever said to her as far as she can recall. His words brings tears to her eyes and she curses her hormones for enjoying a roller coaster ride without her permission. The males are immediately alarmed by the tears but she waves them away and does her best to dry them. She’s not sad, just moved, and in her state the tears come far too quickly for her to wipe them away.

 

“That was so sweet, Ren-chan.”


	14. Surprise

The intruder creeps quietly into the bedroom, sees the unsuspecting, sleeping mask maker on the bed. They know they must be quiet, the smallest mistake can wake the powerful ghoul up, and then it’ll all be over for them. They don’t stand a chance against him when he’s awake, so a sneak attack while he’s sleeping is their only chance at getting the man. They take another step, the floorboard creaks and they pause, waiting. Nothing happens. Another step, then another and another, they are by the bed now, they can see the tousled black hair peeking out from beneath the covers. There is no movement, no sign of the man having woken up and they leap at him. He never saw them coming.

 

“Papa!”

 

“Wha-?” Uta fights to get out from beneath the covers, surprised by the weight suddenly landing on him and rudely yanking him out of dreamland. He twists and Shiori squeals as she falls over onto the soft bedding and her father sits up, blinking owlishly at her.

 

“Shiori-chan…” He groans and falls onto his back when he sees that it is only them in the room and senses no one else in the apartment. For a tiny moment he had thought they had been found.

 

“It’s morning, papa! Time to get up!” He glances at the digital clock by the bed and glares, feeling an itty, bitty desire to crush the device beneath his fist. 5:42 in the morning. He doesn’t know where his little girl got it in her to be a morning person, because none of her parents are.

 

“Shiori-chan, it’s too early.” He tells her. He’s been up half the night, working on an urgent commission. It’s done now, and he’d rather like to get some rest before his customer comes to pick it up.

 

“But papa! Today is a special day!” His seven-year-old daughter shakes him as he burrows beneath the covers again. He pauses, trying to think if he’s missed an anniversary or appointment, but he’s too sleepy to think straight. He pulls Shiori beneath the covers too and rests her head beneath his chin.

 

“You can tell me later, okay, princess? Papa was up late last night.” The girl pouts up at him, and he marvels at how much she’s looking like her mother already.

 

“Fine.” She agrees, because she may be a child but she can see how her father’s eyes drop even as he tries to keep awake.

 

“But when I wake you up later you _have_ to get up!”

 

“Yes, yes.” He promises as he falls asleep again.

 

The little she-devil gives him barely an hour before she jumps on him again, pulling the covers off of the bed so he can’t hide beneath them again. Oh she is Itori’s daughter indeed, he thinks as he forces himself up into a sitting position.

 

“Shiori-chan.” He starts, voice stern because he really is tired and wants some sleep and she is being kind of unreasonable and he thinks this is one of the times he’ll have to be stern with her but pauses when she holds out a paper for him to take.

 

“Happy birthday!” Whatever annoyance he felt for being woken up when he is so tired evaporates as he stares at the painting she hands him. To anyone it would seem like the paper is nothing more than coloured haphazardly, like that of a child her age, but he sees the colours, knows who they represent and how well they all blend together. By using simple colours and no outlining his little girl has drawn her entire family. It’s… heart-warming really, and he smiles as he pats her head. She beams up at him, happy that he seems pleased with her painting.

 

“It’s really well-made and pretty, princess.” He praises her and she flushes an adorable red, proud to have received praise from her father. She knows he is really good at it, she’s seen the paintings in her mother’s bar, the masks downstairs which have always fascinated her and the sketchbook of drawings she doesn’t quite understand the topic off and has strictly been told not to look through again by her other, at the time, blushing silver-haired father. So to have Uta praise her and say that her painting is pretty makes her giddy.

 

“Will you teach me to become even better?”

 

“Practice will make you even better.” He says, pulling her in for a hug as she pouts. “But I will teach you a few tricks.” He acquiesces, and she hugs him back happily. He slips out of bed and she clings to him as he walks out to the kitchen and watches as he fastens her painting to the fridge, along with all the other drawings she has made over the years. It’s quite a lot. He has a folder with a whole lot more, and he changes them every now and then.

 

“What do you want to do today, princess?” Uta asks.

 

“It’s your birthday, papa!” She laughs like he’s said the silliest thing, but he tilts his head with a smile.

 

“You decide!” She says and he makes a show out of thinking, humming quietly.

 

“Papa!” She may have told him it is up to him to decide, but she isn’t amongst the most patient of children and she knows he’s just teasing her. The older ghoul smiles and crouches down, long hair falling over his shoulders. She likes his hair, likes playing with it and braiding it. Her mama showed her how, told her that papa likes it when people play with his hair.

 

She wants mama and daddy to be here with them.

 

And as usual her papa reads her mind.

 

“How about you get dressed and we go visit mama? Daddy is probably there too.” She beams up at him, knowing that in the end they would of course go visit mama and daddy, because important days like this must always be celebrated together. She doesn’t quite understand the gravity of it, why they always insist on celebrating together, but she likes it. Shiori is still too young to understand how quickly things could go from happy and wholesome to utter despair. Uta, Itori and Renji wants to spare her from the harsh reality of ghouls for a while longer, even though she has to learn someday. She darts into her bedroom, and he can see clothes fly about in there. He chuckles and heads to his own room, knowing he’ll have to help her dress herself, and clean up the mess she’s still making. He pulls on a pair of dark jeans and a low-cut v-neck before he ambles over to his daughter’s room. She’s still in her pyjama and pouts up at him.

 

“Can’t decide, huh?” He crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe, doing his best to keep from laughing at the poor girl. She demands her father help her out with finding an appropriate outfit. Itori’s daughter, indeed, Uta thinks again as he enters the room fully and rummages through her closet.

 

“What colour?” Uta asks and she demands green. He searches through the closet and finds a green overall. She holds up a black t-shirt to wear beneath and he helps her dress into it, snapping the clasps together over her shoulders. She looks herself over in the mirror and nods in satisfaction before trotting out of her room, her father following right behind her.  He helps her on with her shoes and wraps a scarf around her neck and gloves on her hands before helping her get her coat on.

 

“I want shoes like yours one day, papa.” She says as he pulls on his combat boots and he grins again, patting her head as he opens the door and ushers her down the stairs.

 

“We’ll see about it when you’re a bit older.” Uta tells her as he locks the shop door behind him. He texts his customer that he’ll have the mask sent to his address before the day is over and then calls up one of his associates, asking them to get the mask to the customer. Once outside the little girl latches onto her father’s hand and doesn’t let go. Some odd looks are thrown their way when they jump onto the subway, the sweet-looking little girl holding the hand of a heavily tattooed and pierced man being a bit unusual, but no one voices their opinion on it. Uta can still easily see what they’re all thinking though as he takes a seat and pulls Shiori onto his lap. She chatters excitedly over the noise in the cart, and he nods along and smiles. She wants to drop by an art store, because she’s almost out of green paint and red paint.

 

“We can do that.” He assures her and she hugs him, happy with him. He plays with a lock of her hair when he sees him. A Dove, in the same compartment as them. Uta figures he should have been a bit more alert to what cart he led Shiori into, but he had been paying more attention on not getting separated with his overly energetic daughter. If Shiori can feel her father’s arm around her tense, she doesn’t comment on it. She knows about Doves, knows to hide from them, to turn around and walk in a different direction if she ever sees one, and he hugs her close and shifts so he can hide her behind the woman standing in front of them. He discretely scans the cart for another investigator. Where there is one, there is usually more. They rarely roam around alone. While he is confident in his strength, he’d really rather not have a confrontation with Doves while having Shiori near.

 

“Papa?”

 

“Hmm?” He looks down at her.

 

“Should we get off early?” Ah, how perceptive his little girl is. She’s already noticed the investigators. Uta just smiles and pats her head.

 

“No, we’ll be fine. Your old man is strong, you know. And very clever.” She giggles, poking his cheek.

 

“You’re not old!” She exclaims, gaining the attention of the people around them, and some smile at the sight of the child playing with her father’s face. She’s careful not to jostle his sunglasses though and he smiles, or tries to, as it is hard to properly form one when Shiori is pulling his cheeks apart. He lowers his shoulders when the Dove exits the train on the next station and when they jump off at their station, and has gone some way from the crowd, the dark-haired girl looks up Uta, tilting her head.

 

“Did I do good? On the train?”

 

“You did very good.” He confirms, and she smiles widely, and as they close in on their destination, she lets go of his hand and skips up the stairs leading to the very door they need to pass through to meet the rest of their family. The door is locked, but Uta pulls the key from his pocket and opens the door. Shiori runs through the bar and up the stairs hidden behind a corner around the counter. Uta closes the door behind him and follows quietly.

 

He hears a squeal, deep laughter and then a shriek. Ah, the mother has gained a hold of her offspring.

 

“Oh dear, oh dear.” He says as he glances inside the bedroom, where Itori has her defenceless girl in her lap, mercilessly tickling her. Renji is rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looks up when Uta enters.

 

“You’re awfully early.” He rumbles and Uta shrugs.

 

“Blame our little princess. She woke me up.”

 

“B-but!” Shiori manages to stutter as Itori lets up on the tickling to raise a brow.

 

“It’s your birthday, papa! You can’t sleep through it!” She tries to defend herself and both Itori and Renji look up at him.

 

“Right, you’re one year older today.” Uta isn’t sure he likes how Itori phrases it and narrows his eyes as he stalks towards the bed. She shoves Shiori into Renji’s lap and tries to dive out of the way but Uta is faster and crashes into her. Itori is no more resilient to tickling than her daughter and is soon reduced to shrieking laughter. Shiori climbs up on her silver-haired father’s shoulders to safety and giggles at the sight.

 

“You calling me old? Are you?” Uta demands but Itori is in no way able to properly answer with the way she twists and turns and laughs breathlessly. Shiori decides she wants in on it so she jumps from her second father’s shoulders and tackles her dark-haired father, arms wrapping around his neck as she nearly slides off the bed with a shriek. Her movements momentarily distract him and Itori manages to push him off and scramble away.

 

“Good job, Shi-chan! Take him down!” And the seven-year-old does so. Uta lets himself be pushed to the ground and surrenders with dramatic flair. The little girl stands up and throws her hands in the air triumphantly as she turns towards her mother and father.

 

“I’ve defeated the mighty No Face!” She cries out and the two laugh as they see Uta crawl up behind her and then suddenly throw her in the air. She shrieks, protesting as her father catches her.

 

“Never celebrate before you’re absolutely sure you’ve won, princess.” The mask maker crows and the girl crosses her arms where she hangs underneath his arm, pouting.

 

“That’s cheating! You tricked me!”

 

“All is fair in love and war.” Uta says smoothly as he walks over to the bed and drops her on it. Shiori crawls over to her mother and seeks comfort from the redheaded woman who is doing her best to contain her snickers.

 

“Oh my oh my, was your old man mean?”

 

“Again, I do not like the way you address me.” Uta narrows his eyes but the female ghoul ignores him, looking only at her daughter.

 

“Yes.” Shiroi pouts.

 

“Shame on you, U-chan, being so mean to your daughter.” Itori tuts and Renji slides out of bed, heading towards the bathroom to get dressed. He doesn’t want to be involved in their little arguments right now, not even a playful one. It is too early in the morning for it. Itori soon joins him and gets dressed quickly too. When Renji leaves and heads towards the kitchen he sees Uta and Shiori splayed out on the couch. The little girl has apparently forgiven her father for she is cuddling him while watching the television.

 

“Coffee?” He asks the raven-haired ghoul who nods.

 

“Please.” Uta is still sleepy, even after coming here and playing with Shiori and the other two. Nothing changed the fact that Shiori had woken him up at an ungodly hour and now the little girl had the nerve to take a nap on his chest. Still, she is too adorable for him to feel any annoyance at the fact. It may not that she had been much of a morning person, rather than that she had been excited to give him her gift.

 

“She painted us, by the way. I doubt anything you guys give me can top that.” Renji snorts at Uta’s attempt at goading him on, sees the smirk dancing on his face and turns around with a mug of coffee.

 

“I believe you.”

 

“Not fair, U-chan. Of course nothing we come up with will trump anything Shi-chan made for you.” Itori saunters out of the bathroom, grabs the cup from Renji and takes a sip.

 

“That was mine.” Uta complains and Itori just smiles way too sweetly at him.

 

“It was? I’m _so_ sorry.”

 

“This is the one day in the year when you _could_ treat me nicely, you know.” Renji turns around to brew a new cup and Itori walks over to the couch and takes a seat beside him, tugging the hairband out and running her hands through his hair.

 

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry.” She tells him sincerely. “What do you want to do for your birthday?”

 

“What? No surprise party?”

 

“You hate surprise parties.” The female ghoul rolls her eyes at his jest and the dark haired ghoul wraps an arm around his daughter before he carefully pulls himself up a bit to rest his head on Itori’s lap.

 

“Just staying here like this sounds nice.” He tells them, nuzzling into Itori’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series will take a break for a while. I've started school again, and need to focus on that.


	15. First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Itori and Uta meet

Uta knows he is in trouble. Fukui had told him to stay close, but he couldn’t fight his curiosity when he saw children his age be ushered inside a building. He thought that perhaps it was a playground, so he had snuck in without telling Fukui. Once he gets out she’ll probably scold him, but first he _has to get out_. Fukui once told him that his curiosity could be the death of him, and now he worries that she is right. He is stronger now than what he was two years ago when she found him, but he is still just a child. Against these people he won’t stand a chance.

 

He swallows. He had snuck into a room and hidden in a closet, wrapping the cloth hanging in there around himself to mask his scent. He regrets it all, because what he has witnessed makes him bite his lower lip and ball his fists in his jacket to quell his trembling and quiet the sobs wanting to escape him. A boy a little older than him had been in the room, and the things that had happened to him… Uta swallows and crawls out of the closet, trying not to look at the unconscious ghoul on the floor. He doesn’t dare go out the door, but the ventilation system on the wall could lead to freedom.

 

All he wants is to get out of here and get back to Fukui, grab her hand and hold on and hear her hum and be safe again. He unleashes his kagune and climbs the wall, opens the ventilation grid and climbs in, crawling as quickly and quietly as he can. He passes by several rooms with other children, some of them just waiting like the boy in the original room he had hidden himself in, some of them-

 

He shakes his head and moves on. He stops by one room, looking down as he hears humming. He sees a redhaired girl, sitting on a bed swinging her legs as she hums to herself. She’s around his age, and he notices how bright red her hair is. It really stands out against her pale skin. She’s dressed in a pretty white dress, and it is a stark contrast to her bright hair. She looks different than the other children, bright-eyed and perfectly at ease. The others had seemed nervous at the very least. The grid gives way under him and he falls from the roof of the room, landing rather gracelessly on the floor with a shout. The girl is up on her feet in a second, skipping over as he scrambles to get up on his feet.

 

“Are you okay?” He looks at her, as she leans forward and tilts her head at him quizzically. He looks left and right, making sure they are alone in the room before he looks at her again.

 

“I’m-“ not okay, but he’s unsure what else to tell her, “-okay.” He mumbles. It’s a lie, but he doesn’t know her so why should he be truthful? He doesn’t have time for this, he has to get out. He moves to look up to the hole he had fallen out of. He can get back in, but he pauses.

 

“You should run.”

 

“Run?”

 

“I saw what they do the children here.”

 

“I see…” She looks down sadly, but grins at him. “I thought it was weird you weren’t dressed like the rest of us. You just stumbled in here by accident, didn’t you?” Not by accident, but he is not going to stay here. He opens his mouth to say something, but they hear steps outside of the door. Uta freeze, terror seizing him. He hasn’t been this scared since his mother disappeared. He can’t move, even though he knows he cannot be found in here. The girl reacts and throws him under the covers on the bed and lays down over him. The door opens, and a man steps in.

 

“What’s going on in here?” The voice is smooth, calm, but it terrifies the boy.

 

“What do you mean?” The girl asks, and he feels her shift, sitting up. “Is something wrong?” She sounds honestly curious, but Uta wonders if she can keep up the lie. He can feel his heart beat like crazy and he wonders if the ghoul by the door can hear it.

 

“I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

 

“Only myself. The grid fell open.” She points to the ventilation shaft in the roof. “I just played a bit, and it fell on its own. It kinda scared me.” Uta hears footsteps and then hears it being shut.

 

“It is loose. It’ll probably open again. I’ll have someone check it out. It’ll be your turn next.” The man says and Uta hears the steps again, moving towards the door.

 

“Okay~.” The girl says cheerily. “Mom will pick me up afterwards, right?”

 

“Yes, she will. You’ve done good.” The man says and the girl giggles. Once the door is shut, the girl waits for a few moments before sliding off the bed and pulling the covers off of Uta.

 

“That was close.” She smiles far too much for the boy. The situation is dangerous, and she’s giggling like a idiot. Still, he is thankful that she hid him, he dreads to think what would have happened if he was discovered. She pulls a chair over to the wall and stands on her tip-toes and opens the ventilation again, before jumping down.

 

“Here you go! You’d best get out quickly. It’s my turn next.” She sounds so happy, Uta feels sorry for her.

 

“You should run too.”

 

“You said that, but I can’t. If I run now, they’ll hurt my mom. And today is my last day. After today I can go home with her.”

 

“But what they do-“

 

“It’s just training. Training so we can become tougher. They say ghoul hunters are getting worse, and that we need to become tough so we can survive.” The girl says. The redhead wholeheartedly believes what she’s told and Uta’s young mind can’t come up with a proper reasoning that’ll make her change her mind.

 

“It’s not right.”

 

“The world isn’t right.” She replies, clasping her hands together. “Don’t you have a family?” He does, yet he doesn’t. His parents are gone, but Fukui is taking care of him. She’s a new mother. He has to go back to her, because she is probably very worried now. He climbs the chair and hoists himself up into the vent, and looks down. She blinks up at him as she sees his one glowing kakugan. She’s never seen someone with only one eye before.

 

“Thank you.” He says before crawling away. She smiles and takes a seat on the bed again, swinging her legs back and forth.

 

She wonders why he only has one kakugan. Is it a trick? She giggles again. She can ask her mother when she comes to pick her up afterwards, she probably knows. Maybe she will meet him again once she can go wherever she wants? The door opens and she gets up on her feet, smiling up at the man coming in. She has never seen him before, but it’ll be over soon enough. She grits her teeth behind her smile and waits for the first blow.

 

Uta finds himself falling out a window in a back-alley, landing in a container filled with trash. The smell is terrible but he doesn’t care. He just wants to get away. He scrambles out and jogs across the streets, and nearly shrieks when a hand grabs his arm. He spins on his heel and sees Fukui.

 

“ _Where_ have you been?” She demands. His lower lip wobbles and he hangs his head.

 

“I wanna go home.” He says and Fukui frowns, her scowl melting away.

 

“Uta-kun?”

 

“I’m scared, I wanna go home.” She is far from done with her errands, but this is a really shady part of the ward, and she can’t walk around with a terrified half-ghoul on the verge of crying. Whatever Uta has seen now, or heard, she can’t ask about it here. She’ll have to take him home and calm him down. So she lifts him up, and he buries his face in the crook of her neck, sniffling.

 

“I wanna be stronger.” He says after a while.

 

“Stronger? What for?” He’s eight years old, he shouldn’t be thinking about things like these. Not yet at least.

 

“So no one can hurt me. If I’m stronger and tougher, I’ll survive longer.” He is not wrong, but she doesn’t like the way he speaks. She’ll have to ask for answers when he’s properly calmed down and they are safe in their home.

 

Uta never once told Fukui what he saw that day.

 

He didn’t tell her what building he had gone into, he didn’t tell her what he saw the grown up ghouls do to that boy in the same room he had hidden in, he didn’t tell her about the redheaded girl and her smile, or what she had been about to experience. Uta never once went back to that street until he was a teenager, when he was so strong no one could hurt him.

 

And he sees her again, hair just as red and bright, but she's no longer smiling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some time, hope you enjoy ^^


	16. I Trust You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fukui has a hard time letting her little ones go, and Uta was no exception

When Uta grows older, he goes out more often. And most of the times, when he comes home again, he’s got spots of blood on his clothes. He tries to hide it, but Fukui notices. She can’t tell him to stop, she doesn’t have the heart to, and the older he gets, the less off a mess his clothes are. It worries her. Not that he’s growing stronger, because since the day she found him he has lamented that he’s weak, and that if he’s strong he won’t have to be afraid anymore. It’s his wish to become strong, because he’s experienced a lot of bad things that haunt him because he was powerless.

 

What worries her is that there is a chance that Uta is the one instigating these fights. She has other children here now too, it’s not just Uta and herself she has to watch out for and provide for anymore. What he does can bring attention to her little orphanage and it is dangerous, but she can’t throw him out, because he is her son, she took him in and raised him when he had no one.

 

She can’t throw him out. She _will not_ throw him out.

 

And she doesn’t have to. He’s sixteen, and he sits on the couch, eyes distant as he just stares at a spot on the wall.

 

“Uta-kun?” She asks him. She’s just laid the younger ones to bed, and she’s got a sinking feeling in her stomach.

 

“I’m leaving.” He says quietly. Fukui wants to say she won’t let him, that he has to stay, but she can’t force him to if he wants to leave.

 

“I’m not leaving the ward.” He finally looks away and smiles up at her. “I’m just leaving the orphanage, so I can’t be traced back to it by the CCG.”

 

“Are you picking fights with Doves, Uta-kun?” He shakes his head negative, standing up.

 

“No, but just in case I get noticed, because this is a shitty ward and I have something I want to do, I don’t want them to be able to trace me back to you.” Fukui hugs him, and a surprised noise escapes him. She often hugs him, he shouldn’t be surprised, but he is, because he expected her to be angry with him. He hugs back though, slowly.

 

“You better come back to me regularly, okay? Or I will come looking for you. You know I’m a damn good tracker!”

 

“You’re a bloodhound.” He tries to joke and the older ghoul lets out a watery chuckle.

 

“I should ground you for that.” She says, but moves back to frame his face with her hands.

 

“You be careful, okay?” He promises to be so, even promises to come by and visit when he has the time to do so. Fukui knows the boy enough to realize it is more for her sake than his that he agrees to do this. She worries that he’ll never come back, because he might become a part of a fight he won’t win, or that the ghoul investigators might find him. She’s taught him how to stay under the radar, how to blend in with humans, but while he is smart, he is also impulsive. And she is not going to keep herself from admitting that he has grown arrogant.

 

So when he leaves, with a small bag of things he has accumulated over the years, Fukui finds it hard not to cry. The only reason she manages to stay strong is because if she cries, she might scare the younger children who’ve grown to love Uta as an older brother. It warms her heart to see him crouch down and allow the younger ghouls to hug him goodbye, how he doesn’t chide them for crying over the situation, because children are clever and perceptive. They know what is going on, that Uta is leaving and that he won’t be there with them every day.

 

He disappears for a month, before she hears from him again. He is the first child to leave the orphanage, the first child she has raised, properly, and Fukui feels the urge to go out and look for him. She’s heard nothing about any raids in the ward, or any ghouls falling prey for investigators, and no fights between the ghouls in the ward either, which is unusual in itself, but she wants to find him and see for herself that he is safe. Uta appearing one night with two bags filled with humans she stares.

 

And then yanks him inside with such force he nearly stumbles over his feet. He turns, an apology or any other remark ready on his lips, when she embraces him tightly. Then she pulls him back and levels him with a stern glare.

 

“Where _have_ you been?” He blinks, perhaps realizing a little bit how worried Fukui has been, before holding up the two bags.

 

“Here?” She yanks the bags out of his hand and pushes him into the kitchen.

 

“I can’t stay-“

 

“You’ll stay and tell me what you’ve been up to the last month.” She corrects him in a tone of voice that tells him he has no real choice in the matter and he pouts, but takes a seat at the table.

 

“I was looking for someone.” He mumbles. “And I found her.”

 

“Her?” Fukui know of no female that Uta is close to, and turns around as she rolls up her sleeves. He looks uncomfortable but says that a girl saved him many years ago, and that he stumbled upon her and saved her this time.

 

“Is this why you wanted to become strong?” Fukui asks offhandedly as she pulls out a cutting board and knife along with several airtight containers, and his pout grows. Apparently so. Then it has something to do with whatever incident he went through that scared him so when he was younger. He still hasn’t told her about what it was, and she wonders if he ever will. Trying to coax it out from him when he was younger only ended up with him being scared and sleeping in her bed with her.

 

“What did you save her from?” The CCG? If so, she’ll have to become very crass with him, because that organization is not something she wants him screwing around with, but he shakes his head.

 

“Some ghouls have been selling her on the streets for years.” Fukui nearly drops the knife in her hands as she hears him speak.

 

“So I simply helped her run away. She’s living with me now, but she’s… I don’t know what they did to her, but she’s scared of everyone. So I just want to… help her, I guess.” Fukui can only imagine how hard it must be to learn how to not be afraid of everything and everyone. She has never gone through what the girl has and learning to trust when she’s been used for years is going to be a hard struggle. Fukui thinks that Uta has taken on a difficult task, but doesn’t dissuade him from continuing.

 

“I’ll stay low, Fukui-san. I promise.” Somehow, she doubts he’ll be able to keep that promise.

 

And a year later, when he appears on her doorstep for their monthly food delivery, he looks rather sheepish, and a bit nervous.

 

“What did you do?” She asks him.

 

“I, uh… I’m the new peacemaker?” She stares, inhales and exhales a couple of times as she lets him enter. Then;

 

“You absolute idiot.” She groans. She did not raise a reckless idiot, she did not. This is what happens when children leave the nest, they make stupid decisions and get into trouble. But Uta is Uta, and while he’s impulsive and makes decisions on the fly most times, he is also clever.

 

Uta isn’t her son, not her first son, at the very least. She raised him to be smart, she raised him in a way that would ensure he avoided the same fate as her biological son. And he is an adult now, and strong and smart. All Fukui can do is trust that he’ll be able to survive in this world, and grow old.


	17. Adoration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small, touching family moment when Shiori is a few days old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They love her, and they love each other

Uta absolutely adores Shiori. The first few days, after they have managed to bring Itori back to her apartment alongside the baby, he refuses to leave and his shop stays closed and requests come in through Renji, who despite wanting to stay with them too, has a few obligations he has to attend to as well. Uta knows that ignoring his business while watching over the baby will come back to bite him in the ass later, but he just can’t seem to pull himself away. Itori isn’t complaining, because having him there with her helps her get some rest without feeling anxious about it all.

 

And she is surprised by how well he handles it all. But then remembers that she shouldn’t be, not really. He grew up under Fukui’s roof, a place that is a home for all ghoul children in need of help. He most likely must have encountered very young children at some point. Even so, with the care he handles Shiori, Itori finds it really heart-warming. And adorable.

 

“My turn.” Itori says, holding her hands out and wiggling her fingers. Uta glances up at her, then down at Shiori again, and for a moment Itori almost believes he’s going to ignore her before he walks over and carefully hands her the baby girl. Itori pulls one of the straps of her top down, and Shiori latches onto a breast, showing just how hungry she might be. Uta sits down besides them, watching with wide eyes, because he finds the sight fascinating and tilts his head.

 

“It’s amazing, how you can feed her like that.” She levels him with a look, and he pulls back a bit.

 

“What?”

 

“How else would I feed her?”

 

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. He reaches out, pokes the girl’s arm gently and she blindly reaches out and grabs a hold of his finger. He grins widely, and has to forcibly keep himself sitting still so he doesn’t disturb her while she’s eating and Itori sucks in her lower lip to keep herself from laughing at the sight. Sometimes Uta is like a child himself. The most mundane things can excite him like it is his birthday or Christmas, and he’ll be so wrapped up in it all that he forgets the world around him. And while that is a scary thing to think, she’ll allow it, as long as it is happening within the confines of their homes, and not out there amongst the humans.

 

“Every little thing about her fascinates you.” She grins at him and he tilts his head.

 

“Of course. She’s incredible.” He says like it is a matter of fact, and while she agrees, she wants to tease him a bit.

 

“She is very demanding-“

 

“Just like her mother.” If it isn’t for the fact that she’s holding and feeding Shiori, she might just have punched him in the gut for that comment, but she _is_ holding and feeding the baby, so she settles for giving him a bone chilling scowl, to which he grins innocently at.

 

“I’ll get you back for that.” And he believes she will, but he’s safe for as long as either of them holds Shiori. So she’ll most likely get him back the moment she’s laid in her crib. The baby in question turns her head and glances up at them, before nuzzling back into her mother’s breast and continuing to eat.

 

“I think that was her telling us to not disturb her while eating.” Uta says and Itori rolls her eyes.

 

Renji comes by a few hours later, and he just joins Uta in watching their little girl nap and Itori feels oddly left out, even though she knows that she can join them inside the room. Still, she stays in the living room, and decides to take a nap, because she is tired. She blinks her eyes open sometime later, and finds herself on Renji’s lap. It’s comfortable, but she wonders why he’s here, because Uta isn’t, but she can’t hear any noise from the room.

 

“Ren-chan?” She asks, rubbing her eyes.

 

“You seem tired.” Renji says. “Isn’t Uta helping out?” There’s an edge to his tone and she stretches, yawning.

 

“U-chan is helping out a lot, but when it comes to food, she’s only got me, and she needs food often and she’s hungry during night time too. How long was I out?” She asks him and he shrugs.

 

“Not long, perhaps an hour.” He tells her and she sighs, reaching out to grab his hand and play with it. It is quiet in the apartment, and she pokes his palm before pressing her own palm against his. His hand easily dwarfs her and she is again amazed by how much bigger his hand is compared to hers.

 

“Is Shi-chan still asleep too?” She asks and Renji nods.

 

“Uta is watching over her.” Itori isn’t surprised, as Uta has not been able to look away from the baby since she was born.

 

“He adores her. Should I be jealous?” She jokes and Renji cracks a small, almost invisible smile, shaking his head at her teasing antics. They all love the little girl, and they all looked forward to see her come into the world and having her with them, but having her with them is different than any of them ever thought it would be.

 

It is better than they imagined.

 

It is scary, with the increased activity from the ghoul investigators lately, but at the same time, they love it because they know they’re careful, they know they are fully capable of keeping themselves and their family alive without any interference from the humans. The only factor that is potentially dangerous is the human they’ve named their daughter after, but Itori is confident that she will be able to keep the truth from her even if they have a baby whose eyes can turn without much warning. Especially since she’s at the other side of Japan for the next fifteen months.

 

She’ll come up with a plan.

 

“Ren-chan.” She murmurs, and he looks down, watching her place his hand over her heart as she grins up at him.

 

“I love all of you.” He smiles, in a way that tells her he returns the sentiment.


End file.
